Background: Heart failure (HF) and cognitive impairment are common medical conditions that are becoming increasingly prevalent in the aging Western population. They are associated with frequent hospitalisation and increased mortality, particularly when they occur simultaneously. Evidence from a number of studies suggests that HF is independently associated with impairment in various cognitive domains. Aims: This systematic literature review evaluates the relation between cognitive deterioration and heart failure. Methods: We searched electronic databases from 1966 to May 2006 for studies that investigated cognitive function in HF patients. Twentytwo controlled studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected for analysis. Study characteristics and data on global cognitive performance, memory scores, psychomotor speed and depression scores were extracted and analysed using the Cochrane Review Manager software. Results: Pooled analysis shows diminished neuropsychological performance in HF patients, as compared to control subjects. In a pooled sample of 2937 heart-failure patients and 14,848 control subjects, the odds ratio for cognitive impairment was 1.62 (95% confidence interval:1.48-1.79, p b 0.0001) among subjects with HF. Conclusion: This review confirms the relationship between HF and cognitive impairment, but it also stresses the need for additional systematic neuropsychological data and adequate neuro-imaging from representative populations of HF patients.

Cognitive dysfunction is relatively common in patients with CHF, with deficits being most prominent in the domains of executive function, memory, language, and mental speed. Disease severity and ApoE genotype are likely to be important determinants for cognitive impairment in patients with chronic CHF.

Background: Although heart failure (HF) is a common cardiovascular disorder, to date little research has been conducted into possible associations between HF and structural abnormalities of the brain. Aims: To determine the frequency and pattern of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities in outpatients with chronic HF, and to identify any demographic and clinical correlates. Methods: Brain MRI scans were compared between a sample of 58 HF patients, 48 controls diagnosed with cardiovascular disease uncomplicated by HF (cardiac controls) and 42 healthy controls. Deep, periventricular and total white matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunar and cortical infarcts, global and medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) were investigated. Results: Compared to cardiac and healthy controls, HF patients had significantly more WMH, lacunar infarcts and MTA, whereas cardiac controls only had more MTA, compared to healthy controls. Age and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were independently associated with total WMH. Age and systolic hypotension were associated with MTA in HF patients and cardiac controls. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cardiac dysfunction contributes independently to the development of cerebral MRI abnormalities in patients with HF. Age and low LVEF are the principal predictors of cerebral WMH in patients with HF and in cardiac controls.

SUMMAR Y Aging affects both cognitive performance and the sleep-wake rhythm. The recent surge of studies that support a role of sleep for cognitive performance in healthy young adults suggests that disturbed sleep-wake rhythms may contribute to Ôage-relatedÕ cognitive decline. This relationship has however not previously been extensively investigated. The present correlational study integrated a battery of standardized cognitive tests to investigate the association of mental speed, memory, and executive function with actigraphically recorded sleep-wake rhythms in 144 home-dwelling elderly participants aged 69.5 ± 8.5 (mean ± SD). Multiple regression analyses showed that the partial correlations of the fragmentation of the sleep-wake rhythm with each of the three cognitive domains (r = )0.16, )0.19, and )0.16 respectively) were significant. These associations were independent from main effects of age, implying that a unique relationship between the rest-activity rhythm and cognitive performance is present in elderly people.k e y w o r d s actigraphy, aging, circadian rhythm, cognitive function, sleep

The Trail Making Test part B (TMT-B) is highly sensitive to age-related changes in the brain and cognitive function. However, the precise contribution of periventricular hyperintensities (PVH), deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMH), and medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) to task performance remains unspecified. Similarly, diminished performance may be due to deficient flexibility functions, but also to other age-related cognitive decline (e.g., mental slowing). The aim of the present study was to determine neuroanatomical (PVH, DWMH, MTA) and neuropsychological (working memory, executive function, speed and attention, episodic memory) predictors of TMT-B performance in elderly people. Results showed that MTA was the strongest predictor of TMT-B performance. The predictive value of the neuropsychological scores differed among the various TMT-B variables. For example, all neuropsychological domains predicted the TMT-B total completion time, whereas only executive function predicted the ratio score (TMT-B/A). We conclude that MTA is a very important predictor of TMT-B performance in elderly people. Furthermore, multiple cognitive functions are involved in TMT-B performance and a mild decline in any of these functions may result in diminished TMT-B performance. Therefore it is crucial to use the ratio score when one wishes to examine executive function ability.

Background/Aims: We purposed to investigate the relationship between cerebral abnormalities detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cognitive performance in nondemented outpatients with heart failure (HF). Methods: In 58 patients with HF neuropsychological assessment was performed including tests of mental speed, executive functions, memory, language and visuospatial functions. Deep, periventricular and total white matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunar and cortical infarcts, global and medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) were investigated on MRI of the brain. Correlations between MRI findings and the cognitive measures were calculated. Results: MTA correlated with memory (r = –0.353, p < 0.01), with executive functions (r = –0.383, p < 0.01) and the Mini Mental State Examination (r = –0.343, p < 0.05). Total WMH and deep WMH were found to correlate with depression and anxiety scores, but not with cognitive measures. Age, estimated premorbid intelligence and MTA were independent predictors of diminished cognitive performance. Conclusions: In HF patients, MTA was related to cognitive dysfunction, involving memory impairment and executive dysfunction, whereas WMH was related to depression and anxiety.

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Background: CSF biomarkers amyloid-β 1–42 (Aβ42), total tau (tau) and tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (ptau-181) are useful diagnostic markers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We examined the impact of these biomarkers in the diagnostic process in a non-academic memory clinic. Methods: One hundred and nine patients with available CSF were included from the local hospital memory clinic. Initially, patients were clinically diagnosed, and the clinician indicated their confidence in the diagnosis. Next the CSF results were presented, and the clinician re-evaluated his initial diagnosis. The main outcomes were changes in initial diagnosis and diagnostic confidence. Results: Forty-seven patients were initially diagnosed with AD, 26 were diagnosed with another type of dementia, 18 were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, and 18 received a non-dementia diagnosis. All biomarkers distinguished between AD and non-dementia (p < 0.01); tau and ptau-181 also distinguished AD from other types of dementia (p < 0.001). After CSF biomarker levels were revealed, 11 diagnoses changed. In 31% of the diagnoses, the clinician gained confidence, while in 10% confidence decreased. Conclusion: We found that knowledge of CSF biomarker profiles changed the diagnosis in 10% of the cases, and confidence in the diagnosis increased for one third of the patients.