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© 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Introduction

We aimed to establish sex differences in vascular brain damage of memory clinic patients with possible vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).

Methods

A total of 860 memory clinic patients (aged 67.7 ± 8.5; 46% female) with cognitive complaints and vascular brain damage (ie, possible VCI) from the prospective TRACE‐VCI (Utrecht‐Amsterdam Clinical Features and Prognosis in Vascular Cognitive Impairment) cohort study with 2‐year follow‐up were included. Age‐adjusted female‐to‐male differences were calculated with general linear models, for demographic variables, vascular risk factors, clinical diagnosis, cognitive performance, and brain magnetic resonance imaging markers.

Results

We found no difference in age nor distribution of clinical diagnoses between females and males. Females performed worse on the MMSE (Mini‐Mental State Examination) and CAMCOG (Cognitive and Self‐Contained Part of the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly). Females had a larger white matter hyperintensity volume, while males more often showed (lacunar) infarcts. There was no difference in microbleed prevalence. Males had smaller normalized total brain and gray matter volumes. During follow‐up, occurrence of cognitive decline and institutionalization was comparable, but mortality was higher in males.

Discussion

Our results suggest that susceptibility and underlying etiology of VCI might differ by sex. Males seem to have more large vessel brain damage compared to females that have more small vessel brain damage.

Details

Title
Sex differences in memory clinic patients with possible vascular cognitive impairment
Author
Exalto, Lieza G 1 ; Boomsma, Jooske M F 1 ; Mofrad, Rosha Babapour 2 ; Barkhof, Frederik 3 ; Groeneveld, Onno N 1 ; Heinen, Rutger 1 ; Kuijf, Hugo J 4 ; Leeuwis, Anna E 5 ; Prins, Niels D 6 ; Biessels, Geert Jan 1 ; Wiesje M. vd Flier 7 

 Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht Universiteit, Utrecht, the Netherlands 
 Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Neurochemistry Laboratory and Biobank, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 
 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK; Institute of Healthcare Engineering, UCL, London, UK 
 Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands 
 Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 
 Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Brain Research Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 
 Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 
Section
COGNITIVE & BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
e-ISSN
23528729
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2635818310
Copyright
© 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.