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A Mouse Model for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Based on Needle-guided Asymmetric Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Stenosis
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A Mouse Model for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Based on Needle-guided Asymmetric Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Stenosis

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Pathogenesis and treatment of vascular cognitive impairment

Kurt A Jellinger

    Neurodegenerative Disease Management
    |December 23, 2014
    PubMed

    Insights

    Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) encompasses a spectrum of cognitive disorders caused by cerebrovascular issues. Effective management focuses on controlling vascular risk factors, as current treatments offer limited cognitive benefits.

    Area of Science:

    • Neuroscience
    • Neurology
    • Geriatrics

    Background:

    • Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) represents a spectrum of cognitive disorders, from mild impairment to dementia, linked to cerebrovascular diseases.
    • It arises from various morphological types of cerebrovascular lesions (CVLs), including multi-infarct encephalopathy and subcortical arteriosclerotic leukoencephalopathy, stemming from systemic, cardiac, or local vessel disease.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To review the current understanding of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).
    • To highlight the challenges in diagnosis and treatment of VCI.
    • To emphasize the importance of vascular risk factor management in VCI.

    Main Methods:

    • Literature review of cerebrovascular diseases and their impact on cognition.
    • Analysis of the morphological types and pathological underpinnings of VCI.
    • Evaluation of current therapeutic strategies and their efficacy.

    Main Results:

    • Cognitive decline in VCI is frequently associated with widespread small cerebrovascular lesions affecting critical brain regions.
    • CVLs often co-occur with other pathologies like Alzheimer's disease, complicating diagnosis and progression.
    • Existing pharmacological treatments like cholinesterase inhibitors offer minimal cognitive improvement.

    Conclusions:

    • Validated clinical and neuropathological criteria for VCI are lacking due to high variability in CVLs.
    • Antihypertensive treatment, cardiovascular control, and lifestyle modifications are crucial for managing VCI.
    • Prevention and treatment of VCI represent a significant challenge in neuroscience due to its growing burden.

    Keywords:
    cerebrovascular lesionslarge and small vessel diseaseneuropathologypathogenic factorsprevention and therapeuticssubcortical vascular lesionsvascular cognitive impairment

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