Neurosonographic findings in dementia

We performed neurosonographic examinations in 19 patients with vascular dementia (VD) and compared these findings with those in 21 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and in 20 controls. There were no significant differences in age and sex among these three subject groups. The severity of dementia quantified by the Mini-Mental State Examination and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale did not reveal significant differences between VD and DAT. We found that carotid stenosis > 50% or occlusion was more frequent in VD compared to controls. The mean flow velocities of both the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and the basilar artery (BA) were decreased in VD and DAT compared with controls. This decrease was statistically significant for left MCA, but not for right MCA and BA. However, we did not find any significant differences between VD and DAT for the mean flow velocities of both MCA and BA.