Impact of carotid artery stenosis on cognitive function in elderly patients: follow-up results / 中华神经医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To assess the impact of carotid artery stenosis on the cognitive function of elderly patients. Methods A total of 215 elderly patients with normal cognitive function were recruited from the out-patients and in-patients in our department. According to the severity of carotid stenosis defined by digital subtraction angiography or CT angiography, these patients were divided into 4 groups with severe (stenosis≥70%), moderate (stenosis 30%-69%), mild (stenosis 10%-29%) carotid artery stenosis or basically normal carotid artery (stenosis 0%-9%). The patients were followed up for 1 year, and Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate the cognitive function of the 4 groups of patients at the end of the follow-up. Results At the end of the one-year follow-up, 43.1% of patients with severe carotid artery stenosis exhibited cognitive impairment, a rate significantly higher than that in patients with moderate (22%) and mild (8.3%) stenosis and the patients with basically normal carotid artery (8.7%)(P<0.05). The MMSE scores of the patients with severe, moderate, and mild carotid artery stenosis and those with normal carotid artery all decreased one year after the examination to 19.85± 7.54, 22.71±5.73, 25.32±4.22, and 25.25±4.36, respectively, and the patients with severe carotid artery stenosis had the lowest score. Conclusion Carotid artery stenosis may lead to cognitive impairment in the elderly, and the risk is positively correlated to the degree of carotid artery stenosis.