International Psychogeriatrics
Volume 15, Supplement 1 - 2003
Classification and Subtypes of Vascular Dementia
ANDERS WALLIN, VERONICA MILOS, MAGNUS SJÖGREN, LEONARDO PANTONI, AND TIMO ERKINJUNTTI
ABSTRACT. Vascular dementia (VaD) is a heterogeneous entity with a large clinicopathological
spectrum. It has been classified and subclassified in many different ways. The difficulty in
identifying the various subtypes is a problem in the diagnostic process. For clinical purposes,
it is desirable to find subtypes of VaD that are homogeneous enough to allow meaningful
comparisons across studies. This article presents candidates for such subtypes: poststroke
dementia, subcortical VaD, and combined Alzheimer’s disease and VaD (AD +VaD). The first two
candidates are easy to identify. Poststroke dementia occurs with cognitive decline in close
temporal relation to a transient ischemic attack. Subcortical VaD has a relatively homogeneous
clinical picture for which detailed criteria are suggested. AD + VaD is more difficult to
identify but is possible, sometimes with the aid of neuroimaging and/or biological markers.
