Vas-Cog Journal
Online ISSN : 2759-5153
Print ISSN : 2423-9380
Volume 7
Displaying 1-3 of 3 articles from this issue
Review article
  • Kunihiro Miki, Shuko Takeda, Tsuneo Nakajima, Ryuichi Morishita
    Article type: Review Article
    2021 Volume 7 Pages 5-14
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: January 15, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    The prevalence of dementia has increased with the rising aging population worldwide, and aging and dementia are known risk factors for delirium, a condition that is closely related to inflammation, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. It originated in Wuhan city, China in early December 2019 and has spread rapidly worldwide ever since. The elderly population are at a higher risk of contracting the virus than other age groups. Evidence has shown that many patients with COVID-19 exhibit symptoms of delirium, disproportionally affecting the elderly, and this is concerning due to the close association between dementia and delirium. Impairment of cerebrovascular functions, especially the blood-brain barrier, plays a key role in delirium and subsequent dementia caused by inflammation from infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.

  • Masaki Kondo, Toshiki Mizuno
    Article type: Review Article
    2021 Volume 7 Pages 15-24
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: January 15, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    Positron emission tomography (PET), one of the functional imaging modalities, visualizes the brain function based on the retention of radioisotope-labeled ligands. PET facilitates imaging of localized or diffuse metabolic disturbances responsible for cognitive impairment, and it is effective for differentiating vascular dementia (VaD) from degenerative dementia such as Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the confounding pathology and interaction between VaD and AD have become a focus of interest. Cerebrovascular disease and AD not only occur together but they also interact.

    This review overviews the role of structural and functional imaging to diagnose vascular dementia, and summarizes the usefulness of PET to analyze the pathophysiology and differentially diagnose vascular dementia, using data on oxygen metabolism and amyloid accumulation in the brain.

    In our study, cerebral cortical retention of Pittsburgh compound-B (11C-PIB) was noted in more than half of VaD patients. Various types of low perfusion of cerebral blood flow were observed in patients, but low perfusion areas were not associated with cortical PIB retention, and the oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) was increased in 3/5 of those with retention.

Case report
  • Yoshio Omote, Yuko Kawahara, Nozomi Hishikawa, Emi Nomura, Ryo Sasaki, ...
    Article type: Case Report
    2021 Volume 7 Pages 25-29
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: January 15, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    Takayasu arteritis is primarily a granulomatous large vessel vasculitis mainly involving the aorta and its main branches. Here we report a 45-year-old woman developing gait disturbance and visual loss with abnormal lesions in bilateral pons, left cerebellum and bilateral occipital to parietal areas on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Her symptoms and brain MRI findings were refractory to initial steroid therapy, but muscle weakness in left upper limb later occurred with new abnormal lesion in right frontal area with Gadolinium-enhancement. The brain biopsy finally demonstrated a marked gliosis and demyelination with cytotoxic helper T cell and microglia accumulation predominantly around the small vessel, and the new brain lesion plus new neurological symptoms improved after the second steroid therapy except for visual loss. The present case reported a unique intracranial small vessel involvement in the course of Takayasu arteritis.

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