Clinicopathologic study of progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy (Binswanger type) in the elderly.

A clinicopathologic study was made of 45 elderly persons whose autopsied brains showed the pathologic changes of progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy (Binswanger type). Progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy (PSVE) was observed in 3.8 per cent of all autopsied brains of elderly persons and in 6.7 per cent of the brains of those with cerebrovascular diseases. White matter lesions were graded from I to III (slight to severe). Small infarcts in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and pons were common, but the cerebral cortex was usually preserved. Neuropsychiatric symptoms included dementia, urinary incontinence, hemiplegia, pseudobulbar palsy, psychosis, parkinsonism, and mutism. In thge Grade III group there was a high incidence of pseudobulbar palsy, parkinsonism, and mutism. Pathologic study showed marked cerebral arteriosclerosis in almost all cases. Angionecrosis was observed in 60 to 80 per cent. Fibrotic and stenotic changes of the blood vessels in the deep white matter were also noted, particularly in 90 per cent of the Grade III cases. A suggested explanation for the pathogenesis of PSVE is based on the effects of various complications such as hypertension, cardiac disease and malnutrition which may play an important role in PSVE when they occur in elderly persons with a history of long-standing hypertension, marked cerebral arteriosclerosis, and arteriolar changes in the cerebral white matter.