Dementia Japan 25: 9-15, 2011

Diagnostic criteria of vascular dementia and problems

Fukashi Udaka

Department of Neurology, Sumitomo Hospital

    Problems with the diagnostic criteria of vascular dementia (VaD)were reviewed.  Although VaD covers diverse populations, “alzheimerization” is likely to occur because the concept and classification are unclear, cognitive disorders of VaD are not identical with Alzheimer disease (AD), lesions responsible for the disease are unclear, and no pathological criteria are available, leading to attaching greater importance to AD pathology and underestimating vascular pathology.  Problems with the frequently employed NINDS-AIREN criteria are summarized into the following 3 points:Amnesia specified as an essential condition for diagnosis of dementia, difficulty in demonstrating a causal relationship between vascular lesions and dementia, and dealing with small vessel disease.

Address correspondence to Dr. Fukashi Udaka, Department of Neurology (5-3-20 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0005, Japan)