Neuropsychological Sequelae of Coronary Heart Disease in Women: A Systematic Review.

Heart disease, such as coronary heart disease (CHD), is the leading cause of death among aging women. However, over the past years, the mortality rate has declined, resulting in an increased number of CHD survivors. In this context, research has uncovered relationships between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the development of neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that CHD can act as a precursor. Despite heart disease affecting both sexes, CVD research has significantly neglected women. Therefore, we conducted the first systematic review of neuropsychological sequelae of CHD in women to gain a clear portrait of the current knowledge of the association of CHD on women's neuropsychological status. We found that studies continue to include an insufficient number of women in their research. Our work also uncovered that there is variability in the definition of CHD by researchers (i.e., operationalization of the variable), which could explain inconsistencies across studies. Overall, we found evidence that supports the heart-brain disease hypothesis. To conclude, we provide several guidelines for future research involving the impact of CHD in women.

Dementia following posterior cortical atrophy--a descriptive clinical case report.

Whether posterior cortical atrophy is a distinct entity or a variant of one of the other degenerative processes continues to be debated. We describe five patients four of whom had bilateral changes of posterior cortical atrophy on the CT scan. These four had a cluster of symptoms consistent with parieto-occiptial dysfunction together with a spectrum of dementia. The fifth patient with unilateral changes had optic ataxia, apraxia of gait and dementia. Three of the five patients were heavy drinkers of alcohol but any direct causal link between alcohol and posterior cortical atrophy is tenuous but alcohol could be a consideration in lowering the threshold for dementia in conjunction with other determinants. The study revealed there is little or no difficulty in recognizing posterior cortical atrophy in the early stages and the end stages are sufficiently uniform to reduce the diagnostic uncertainty.

Dense middle cerebral artery sign: a pictorial study.

The hyperdense middle cerebral artery on computed tomography (CT), although a useful sign of middle cerebral artery occlusion, does not presage the events to follow. Because of the wide availability of CT it is useful to illustrate the radiological spectrum of findings following middle cerebral artery occlusion. This is pictorial study of four prototypic patients with hyperdense middle cerebral artery which was the common denominator. There was a marked heterogeniety among the patients in relation to the character of the vascular disturbances, location, extent of ischaemic changes and the final outcome. We emphasise that a single radiological sign should be seen in the context of the entire scan.

Psychiatric and behavioural manifestations of normal-pressure hydrocephalus.

Seven patients with psychiatric and behavioural manifestations of normal-pressure hydrocephalus are described. There is little disagreement about the classical triad of symptoms. However, it requires a high index of suspicion when a patient presents with non-specific psychiatric and behavioural symptoms. Clinicians must be alert to the possibility when positive findings point to the diagnosis of normal-pressure hydrocephalus, namely gait disturbance, incontinence, soft neurological signs, history of hypertension and no previous psychiatric history.