Alzheimer and vascular brain diseases: Focal and diffuse subforms
Eliasz Engelhardt1, Lea T Grinberg2,3
1Full Professor (retired), Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Unit - Institute of Neurology / Institute of Psychiatry - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brazil.
Dementia & Neuropsychologia
|December 8, 2017
Summary
Alois Alzheimer
Area of Science:
- Neuropathology
- Vascular Neurology
- Cognitive Neurology
Background:
- Alois Alzheimer's early work focused on vascular brain diseases and their impact on cognition.
- He described arteriosclerotic atrophy and dementia subtypes, alongside specific subforms of vascular brain conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-examine Alois Alzheimer's lesser-known contributions to understanding vascular cognitive impairment.
- To categorize Alzheimer's described vascular brain disease subforms.
Main Methods:
- Review of Alois Alzheimer's historical descriptions of brain diseases.
- Categorization of identified vascular brain disease subforms into three groups: gliosis and sclerosis, subcortical atrophies, and apoplectic.
Main Results:
- Alzheimer described main forms of vascular brain disease (arteriosclerotic atrophy, arteriosclerotic dementia subtype).
- He also identified and detailed subforms, classified into gliosis/sclerosis, subcortical atrophies, and apoplectic groups.
- These subforms exhibit distinct neuropathological and clinical features.
Conclusions:
- Alzheimer's early work on vascular brain diseases laid groundwork for understanding Vascular Cognitive Impairment.
- His detailed descriptions of subforms provide a basis for contemporary classification of vascular cognitive disorders.
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