Alzheimer Center, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, VU University Medical Center, de Boelelaan 1118, 1081 HZ Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2018 Feb 15;4:18003. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2018.3.
The term vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) was introduced around the start of the new millennium and refers to the contribution of vascular pathology to any severity of cognitive impairment, ranging from subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment to dementia. Although vascular pathology is common in elderly individuals with cognitive decline, pure vascular dementia (that is, dementia caused solely by vascular pathology) is uncommon. Indeed, most patients with vascular dementia also have other types of pathology, the most common of which is Alzheimer disease (specifically, the diffuse accumulation of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles composed of tau). At present, the main treatment for VCI is prevention by treating vascular diseases and other risk factors for VCI, such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Despite the current paucity of disease-modifying pharmacological treatments, we foresee that eventually, we might be able to target specific brain diseases to prevent cognitive decline and dementia.
血管性认知障碍（VCI）一词是在新千年开始之际提出的，它是指血管病理学对任何严重程度的认知障碍的影响，从主观认知下降和轻度认知障碍到痴呆。尽管血管病理学在认知下降的老年人群中很常见，但单纯的血管性痴呆（即仅由血管病理学引起的痴呆）并不常见。事实上，大多数血管性痴呆患者还有其他类型的病理学，最常见的是阿尔茨海默病（具体来说，是由淀粉样β斑块弥漫性积累和由tau 组成的神经原纤维缠结）。目前，VCI 的主要治疗方法是通过治疗血管疾病和其他 VCI 的风险因素，如高血压和糖尿病来预防。尽管目前缺乏改变疾病的药物治疗方法，但我们预计最终我们可能能够针对特定的脑部疾病来预防认知能力下降和痴呆。
