Cognitive dysfunction in congestive heart failure: transcranial Doppler evidence of microembolic etiology

Cognitive symptoms are common in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and are usually attributed to low cerebral blood flow. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate global cognitive function (Mini Mental State Exam MMSE) in relation to both cardiac function (evaluated by echocardiogram) a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria 2006-06, Vol.64 (2A), p.207-210
Main Authors: Jesus, Pedro A P, Vieira-de-Melo, Rodrigo M, Reis, Francisco J F B, Viana, Leila C, Lacerda, Amanda, Dias, Jesangeli S, Oliveira-Filho, Jamary
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blood Flow Velocity
Cognition Disorders - etiology
Echocardiography
Female
Heart Failure - complications
Heart Failure - physiopathology
Humans
Intracranial Embolism - complications
Intracranial Embolism - physiopathology
Male
Middle Aged
NEUROSCIENCES
PSYCHIATRY
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
Vascular Resistance
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cognitive symptoms are common in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and are usually attributed to low cerebral blood flow. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate global cognitive function (Mini Mental State Exam MMSE) in relation to both cardiac function (evaluated by echocardiogram) and cerebrovascular hemodynamics (evaluated by transcranial Doppler TCD) in CHF patients. In 83 patients studied, no correlation was found between echocardiographic parameters and MMSE scores. In contrast, a significant correlation was found between right middle cerebral artery (RMCA) mean flow velocity and MMSE score (r=0.231 p=0.039), as well as between RMCA pulsatility index and MMSE score (rs= -0.292 p=0.015). After excluding patients with a previous history of stroke, only RMCA pulsatility index correlated with MMSE score (rs=-0,314 p=0,007). The relationship between high cerebrovascular resistance and worse cognitive scores suggest that microembolism may be responsible for a significant proportion of cognitive symptoms in CHF patients.
ISSN:0004-282X
1678-4227
0004-282X
DOI:10.1590/S0004-282X2006000200007