On the Pathological Changes in the Brain of the Demented in Old Age
A clinicopathological study on the vascular dementia
1976 Volume 13 Issue 3 Pages 198-205
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1976 Volume 13 Issue 3 Pages 198-205
A neuropathological Investigation was performed on the 44 cases of dementia among 220 autopsied brains of the aged. 37 cases among those dementics were classified as“cerebro-vascular”dementia (dementia of cerebrovascular origin).
Most of them showed pathological changes in bilateral cerebral hemispheres, which consisted mainly of multiple small infarctions and lacunes in the basal ganglia and deep white matter, especially territory of the middle cerebral artery.
In 8 cases there was a change of diffuse degeneration of the white matter, which is very similar pathological change to the Morbus Binswanger (progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy). They had history of hypertension and showed clinical symptoms of pseudobulbar palsy, parkinsomism or hemiplegia, besides progressive dementia with/without psychiatric symptoms. It is noticeable that some of the dementics with cerebral arteriosclerosis in the aged are due to the progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy. Mechanism of this change appeared in old age is discussed.
