Oral and Poster Papers Submitted for Presentation at the 5th Congress of the EUGMS “Geriatric Medicine in a Time of Generational Shift September 3–6, 2008 Copenhagen, Denmark

Cognitive performance in elderly patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting: a twelve-month follow-up study

<i>Background:</i> It is still a matter of debate if and to what extent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) impair cognitive functioning in the elderly. <i>Methods:</i> We conducted a nonrandomized clinical trial on subjects with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis comparing CEA (n = 28; 24 males and 4 females; 72.6 ± 5.8 years old) with CAS (n = 29; 17 males and 12 females; 75.1 ± 5.7 years old). Cognition, mood and functional status were evaluated by a broad spectrum of tests performed on the day prior to carotid reopening as well as 3 and 12 months after. <i>Results:</i> No significant differences in scores on cognitive test…

A systematic review of neuropsychiatric symptoms in mild cognitive impairment.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a clinical concept proposed as an intermediate state between normal aging and dementia. This condition has multiple heterogeneous sources, including clinical presentation, etiology, and prognosis. Recently, the prevalence and associated features of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in MCI have been described. We systematically searched the PubMed database (last accessed on August 31, 2008) for articles on NPS in MCI. Included articles used strict selection criteria, and outcome variables were extracted in duplicate; of the 27 articles included, 14 (52%) used prospective cohorts. The global prevalence of NPS in MCI ranged from 35% to 85%. The most common beha…

Biomarkers of oxidative and nitrosative damage in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia in the elderly. Products of oxidative and nitrosative stress (OS and NS, respectively) accumulate with aging, which is the main risk factor for AD. This provides the basis for the involvement of OS and NS in AD pathogenesis. OS and NS occur in biological systems due to the dysregulation of the redox balance, caused by a deficiency of antioxidants and/or the overproduction of free radicals. Free radical attack against lipids, proteins, sugars and nucleic acids leads to the formation of bioproducts whose detection in fluids and tissues represents the currently available method for assessing oxidative/nitrosative damage. Post-mortem …

P2–206: Functional decline in mild cognitive impairment. Results from the regal project

Il ruolo dei fattori di rischio vascolare nei sottotipi di Mild Cognitive Impairment: risultati del progetto ReGAl

Validation study of the Italian Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination Revised in a young-old and old-old population

<i>Aims:</i> The main aims of the study were the translation and the subsequent validation in Italian of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination Revised (ACE-R), and the evaluation of its usefulness in discriminating cognitively normal subjects from patients with mild dementia in an elderly population. <i>Methods:</i> The ACE-R was translated and adapted into Italian. The Italian ACE-R was administered to a group of 179 elderly subjects (72 cognitively healthy and 107 subjects with mild dementia, mean age 75.4 ± 6.4 years). The group was stratified into two subsamples according to age, i.e. a young-old (<75 years) and an old-old (≧75 years) group, in order to eval…