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Introducción La enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) es la forma más común de demencia entre las personas mayores. La enfermedad de Alzheimer de inicio precoz (EAIP) se ha definido como una demencia debido a EA que se presenta antes de la edad arbitrariamente establecida de 65 años. De los pacientes con EA precoz, 50% debutan con síntomas atípicos y muestran alteraciones neuropsicológicas diferentes de aquellos pacientes que debutan más tarde. Estas atipias conllevan un retraso en el diagnóstico y en el inicio del tratamiento. Métodos Seleccionamos retrospectivamente 359 pacientes con diagnóstico de probable demencia por EA. Subdividimos a los pacientes en tres grupos atendiendo a la edad de aparición de la enfermedad: EAIP, menores de 65 años; EA de inicio tardío (EAIT; entre 65 y 80); y EA de inicio muy tardío (EAIMT; definido como edad de inicio mayor de 80 años) y comparamos sus resultados neuropsicológicos. Resultados Los pacientes de EA con una edad de inicio más joven puntuaron peor en atención, función ejecutiva y habilidades visuoespaciales, mientras que los pacientes de mayor edad puntuaron peor en tareas de memoria y lenguaje. Los pacientes de inicio muy tardío se diferenciaron de los de inicio tardío en un mayor deterioro de la fluidez semántica y la denominación. Conclusión Aunque la edad de 65 años podría corresponder a un punto de separación arbitrario entre la forma precoz y la forma de inicio más tardío de la EA, nuestro estudio demuestra que existen diferencias significativas entre estos grupos desde un punto de vista neuropsicológico. Sin embargo, estas diferencias parecen seguir una tendencia lineal con la edad, en lugar de representar cuadros clínicos fundamentalmente distintos. (AU)

Introduction Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) has been defined as a dementia due to AD presenting before the arbitrarily established age of 65 (as opposed to late-onset Alzheimer's disease or LOAD). There is still little research about other age sub-groups, the use of so-called senile dementia has been banished, usually including it within the late-onset Alzheimer's dementia. To the extent of our knowledge, there are no studies comparing the neuropsychological features of very-late-onset patients with early and late-onset ones. Methods We retrospectively selected 359 patients with a diagnosis of probable AD dementia. We subdivided patients into three groups attending to the age of onset of the disease: early-onset AD (EOAD; younger than 65 years old), late-onset AD (LOAD; between 65 and 80) and very-late-onset AD (VLOAD; defined here as onset age older than 80), and then we compared their neuropsychological results. Results AD patients with a younger age at onset scored worse on attention, executive function and visuospatial skills, while older-onset patients scored worse in memory tasks and language. Patients with a very-late-onset differed from the late-onset ones in a greater impairment of semantic fluency and naming. Conclusion Although the point of separation between EOAD and later-onset forms of EA at the age of 65 is an arbitrary one, our study shows that there are significant differences between these groups from a neuropsychological point of view. However, these differences do seem to follow a linear trend with age, rather than representing fundamentally distinct clinical pictures. (AU)

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Introducción La enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) es la forma más común de demencia entre las personas mayores. La enfermedad de Alzheimer de inicio precoz (EAIP) se ha definido como una demencia debido a EA que se presenta antes de la edad arbitrariamente establecida de 65 años. De los pacientes con EA precoz, 50% debutan con síntomas atípicos y muestran alteraciones neuropsicológicas diferentes de aquellos pacientes que debutan más tarde. Estas atipias conllevan un retraso en el diagnóstico y en el inicio del tratamiento. Métodos Seleccionamos retrospectivamente 359 pacientes con diagnóstico de probable demencia por EA. Subdividimos a los pacientes en tres grupos atendiendo a la edad de aparición de la enfermedad: EAIP, menores de 65 años; EA de inicio tardío (EAIT; entre 65 y 80); y EA de inicio muy tardío (EAIMT; definido como edad de inicio mayor de 80 años) y comparamos sus resultados neuropsicológicos. Resultados Los pacientes de EA con una edad de inicio más joven puntuaron peor en atención, función ejecutiva y habilidades visuoespaciales, mientras que los pacientes de mayor edad puntuaron peor en tareas de memoria y lenguaje. Los pacientes de inicio muy tardío se diferenciaron de los de inicio tardío en un mayor deterioro de la fluidez semántica y la denominación. Conclusión Aunque la edad de 65 años podría corresponder a un punto de separación arbitrario entre la forma precoz y la forma de inicio más tardío de la EA, nuestro estudio demuestra que existen diferencias significativas entre estos grupos desde un punto de vista neuropsicológico. Sin embargo, estas diferencias parecen seguir una tendencia lineal con la edad, en lugar de representar cuadros clínicos fundamentalmente distintos. (AU)

Introduction Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) has been defined as a dementia due to AD presenting before the arbitrarily established age of 65 (as opposed to late-onset Alzheimer's disease or LOAD). There is still little research about other age sub-groups, the use of so-called senile dementia has been banished, usually including it within the late-onset Alzheimer's dementia. To the extent of our knowledge, there are no studies comparing the neuropsychological features of very-late-onset patients with early and late-onset ones. Methods We retrospectively selected 359 patients with a diagnosis of probable AD dementia. We subdivided patients into three groups attending to the age of onset of the disease: early-onset AD (EOAD; younger than 65 years old), late-onset AD (LOAD; between 65 and 80) and very-late-onset AD (VLOAD; defined here as onset age older than 80), and then we compared their neuropsychological results. Results AD patients with a younger age at onset scored worse on attention, executive function and visuospatial skills, while older-onset patients scored worse in memory tasks and language. Patients with a very-late-onset differed from the late-onset ones in a greater impairment of semantic fluency and naming. Conclusion Although the point of separation between EOAD and later-onset forms of EA at the age of 65 is an arbitrary one, our study shows that there are significant differences between these groups from a neuropsychological point of view. However, these differences do seem to follow a linear trend with age, rather than representing fundamentally distinct clinical pictures. (AU)

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INTRODUCTION: Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) has been defined as a dementia due to AD presenting before the arbitrarily established age of 65 (as opposed to late-onset Alzheimer's disease or LOAD). There is still little research about other age sub-groups, the use of so-called senile dementia has been banished, usually including it within the late-onset Alzheimer's dementia. To the extent of our knowledge, there are no studies comparing the neuropsychological features of very-late-onset patients with early and late-onset ones. METHODS: We retrospectively selected 359 patients with a diagnosis of probable AD dementia. We subdivided patients into three groups attending to the age of onset of the disease: early-onset AD (EOAD; younger than 65 years old), late-onset AD (LOAD; between 65 and 80) and very-late-onset AD (VLOAD; defined here as onset age older than 80), and then we compared their neuropsychological results. RESULTS: AD patients with a younger age at onset scored worse on attention, executive function and visuospatial skills, while older-onset patients scored worse in memory tasks and language. Patients with a very-late-onset differed from the late-onset ones in a greater impairment of semantic fluency and naming. CONCLUSION: Although the point of separation between EOAD and later-onset forms of EA at the age of 65 is an arbitrary one, our study shows that there are significant differences between these groups from a neuropsychological point of view. However, these differences do seem to follow a linear trend with age, rather than representing fundamentally distinct clinical pictures.

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(1) Background: Both cerebral vascular disorders and cognitive decline increase in incidence with age. The role of cerebral vascular disease and hemodynamic changes in the development of cognitive deficits is controversial. The objective of this study was to assess the cardiovascular response during cardiac stress testing in neurologically asymptomatic individuals who developed cognitive impairment several years after previous cardiac stress testing. (2) Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent cardiac stress testing between January 2001 and December 2010. Patients were followed up until May 2015, and we selected those who developed cognitive dysfunction including dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and subjective cognitive decline, after the stress test. Heart rate and blood pressure both at rest and at peak exercise, and the mean R-R interval at rest were recorded. For each patient who developed cognitive impairment, we selected one matched control who did not show cognitive decline by the end of the follow-up period. (3) Results: From the cohort of 7224 patients, 371 developed cognitive impairment; of these, 186 (124 men) met the inclusion criteria, and 186 of the other patients were selected as matched controls. During follow-up, cognitive impairment appeared 6.2 ± 4.7 years after the cardiac stress test. These patients who had subsequently developed cognitive impairment had significantly lower at-rest systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure than controls (p < 0.05). Further, compared with controls, their maximum heart rate was significantly higher at peak exercise. (4) Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that differences in cardiovascular response to stress might be present in individuals who develop cognitive decline. These findings challenge the possibility of assessing blood pressure and heart rate variability at rest and during cardiac stress as potential risk factors associated with cognitive impairment.

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