Gait and apathy as relevant symptoms of subcortical vascular dementia.

BACKGROUND: Subcortical vascular dementia relates to small-vessel disease and hypoperfusion, resulting in focal and diffuse ischemic white matter lesions. The main target of the disease are the frontal subcortical neural networks. There is no clinical standard definition of the pathology, on the contrary, everyday clinical practice suggests dominant behavioral alterations and dysexecutive syndrome. METHODS: The aim of this study was to investigate gait disorders, behavioral alteration, and drug intake of a subcortical population with dementia (n = 1155). A complete neuropsychological examination was conducted at baseline and every 6 months, and the results were compared. RESULTS: Our data suggest that there is a significant increment in apathy levels and a dramatic decrease in gait and equilibrium control in the patients examined during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Subcortical vascular dementia may be associated with gait and balance alteration and apathy per se; we suggest to implement clinical data with these major aspects.