[The morphological basis of vascular (multiinfarct) dementia (author's transl)]

204 patients with an ischaemic stroke were investigated by computertomography. 84 of these patients were demented and 120 had no signs of dementia. Atrophy was significantly more often seen in the computertomograms of the demented patients. A normal computer-tomogram was commoner in the non demented patients. The distribution of infarcts was similar in both groups but bilateral infarcts were significantly more often present in patients with dementia. The combination of a single infarct with atrophy was seen significantly more often in the patients with dementia. Bilateral infarcts, even without atrophy, were significantly more common in the dementia patients. From these findings it was concluded that the bilateral distribution of the lesions is an important factor in vascular dementia.