Cognitive Impairment in Sporadic Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Overview

Journal Alzheimers Dement

Specialties Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2020 Nov 13

PMID 33185327

Citations 74

Authors

Olivia K L Hamilton

Ellen V Backhouse

Esther Janssen

Angela C C Jochems

Caragh Maher

Tuula E Ritakari

Anna J Stevenson

Lihua Xia

Ian J Deary

Joanna M Wardlaw

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This paper is a proposal for an update on the characterization of cognitive impairments associated with sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). We pose a series of questions about the nature of SVD-related cognitive impairments and provide answers based on a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published data from 69 studies. Although SVD is thought primarily to affect executive function and processing speed, we hypothesize that SVD affects all major domains of cognitive ability. We also identify low levels of education as a potentially modifiable risk factor for SVD-related cognitive impairment. Therefore, we propose the use of comprehensive cognitive assessments and the measurement of educational level both in clinics and research settings, and suggest several recommendations for future research.

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