The Effect of Ischemic Cholinergic Damage on Cognition in Patients With Subcortical Vascular Cognitive Impairment

Prior research has shown that the total amount of white matter ischemia had no significant correlation with cognitive deficits. We compared the association of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) of total as well as cholinergic pathways with clinical dementia severity and investigated whether cholinergic ischemic burden had an independent predictive value with respect to cognitive decline in subcortical vascular cognitive impairment (SVCI). Forty-eight patients underwent detailed neuropsychological tests and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Quantification of WMH in the total white matter and in cholinergic pathways was achieved using the visual Scheltens scale and Cholinergic Pathway HyperIntensity Scale (CHIPS), respectively. We explored the association between WMH scores and clinical dementia rating scale (CDR). To assess the relation between WMH and cognitive scores, multiple linear regression analysis was used. The CHIPS score was higher in subcortical vascular dementia compared to subcortical vascul...