ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Recent data have shown that in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular brain lesions might promote the progression of cognitive decline or might even precede neuronal damage. METHODS: Ischemic brain lesions, recognized on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, were analyzed retrospectively in 72 patients with early and late onset sporadic AD. RESULTS: All types of ischemic lesions occurred more frequently in the AD patients than in the controls. Analysis of subgroups of early and late onset AD patients diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging showed a more frequent occurrence of subcortical lesions in severely demented patients with early onset AD. CONCLUSIONS: The non-stroke subcortical ischemic lesions occurring more frequently in our AD patients might be recognized as the concomitant vascular pathology that characterizes severely demented patients with early onset sporadic AD.
