Purpose of our study was to evaluate the incidence of atherogenic profile, heart failure (HF) and if there is any correlation between these and cognitive impairment (CI) in patients with vascular dementia (VaD).

This was a retrospective study. We analyzed 35 patients with VaD and 25 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. NINDS-AIREN criteria and Hachinski's ischemic scale were used to identify VaD. Mini Mental State Examination was used to classify CI into mild, moderate and severe. Clinical and biochemical features were investigated by means of standardized tests. Echocardiography was done for evaluate ejection fraction (EF).

Prevalence of atherogenic profile was increased in VaD compared with controls (72.2% vs 20%, p<0.001). High LDL cholesterol, triglicerides and low HDL cholesterol values were characteristic for VaD patients in the last 10 years. In present time we found low level for HDL cholesterol (34.1± 4.6 mg/dl vs 44.2± 5.8 mg/dl, p<0.001) and triglicerides (102.7± 7.5 mg/dl vs 154.2± 4.5 mg/dl, p<0.01) when compared with controls. 8 patients had mild CI, 2 of them had HF class II and 6 had class III NYHA, with EF in normal limits. 23 patients had moderate CI and low EF; 7 of them had HF class III and 16 had class IV NYHA. 4 patients with severe CI had very low EF and HF class IV NYHA. We found correlations between EF, triglicerides and CI.

The prevalence of atherogenic profile and heart failure were significantly higher in VaD and were correlated with cognitive impairment.

Sleep disturbance is common among patients with Parkinson's disease and occurs in approximately two thirds of patients.

The main objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of sleep disturbances in patients with Parkinson's disease in Romania.

To asses risk factors associated with excessive daytime sleepiness and nocturnal sleep disorders.

44 consecutive inpatients with Parkinson's disease (41% females) were included in a study of non-motor symptoms, including sleep disturbances. All participants responded to the Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS), where an overall score below 82 or a score below 5 on a sub-item indicate sleep disturbances. Factors associated with sleep were also investigated, with special emphasis on severity of Parkinson's disease, fatigue, mental health and restless legs syndrome (RLS).

The mean age was 67.8 years (range 35-74); the mean Hoehn and Yahr stage was 2.4 (SD 0.8), and the mean UPDRS part III was 22.6 (SD 11.5). Sleep disturbances were common among patients with Parkinson's disease. While only 17% of the sample had an overall score below 82 on the PDSS, 70% of the patients had a score below 5 on one item. There was no significant association between Parkinson's disease severity and any of the sleep items in the PDSS.

The current findings call for increased awareness of sleep problems in patients with Parkinson's disease, especially focusing on the association with mental health problems, fatigue and RLS.

Depression and apathy are among the most common psychiatric and behavioral disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). This two psychiatric disorders are major determinants of quality of life for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

The main objective of this study was to establish the prevalence and demographic and clinical correlates of depression and apathy in a sample of inpatients with Parkinson’s disease.

To identify depression and apathy in a group of patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and to allow appropriate treatment to improve their quality of life.

A number of 44 inpatients with Parkinson’s disease were investigated with the Starkstein’s Apathy Scale (AS), the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), the Hoehn and Yahr staging (HY), the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and the Mini -Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Apathy coexisted with depression in 34.1% of PD patients, compared with depression without apathy in 4.6%, and apathy without depression in 22.7%. Apathy was associated with higher UPDRS score, lower MMSE score and earlier HY stages. Depression was correlated with more advanced HY stages and younger age of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Apathy and depression are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Therefore these two conditions should be screened and considered in the management of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Ischemic stroke can lead to heart injury via dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. QT intervals on electrocardiography (ECG) are susceptible to autonomic influences and their prolongation was associated with increased mortality after stroke.

We aimed to study QT intervals in patients with ischemic stroke in chronic phase with and without cognitive impairment.

ECGs were recorded in 50 patients with ischemic stroke. QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc), QT dispersion (QTd), and QT interval variability (QTIV) were measured. The QTVI was calculated as the logarithm of the ratio between the variances of the normalized QT and RR intervals. Using Mini Mental State Examination and Hachinski's ischemic scale we identified vascular dementia (VaD) in 17 patients. Twenty age-matched healthy subjects were examined for comparison.

We identified QTc, QTd prolongation in patients with ischemic stroke. Comparing patients with ischemic stroke vs. VaD, QTc (412 ±75.2 ms vs 456± 115 ms, p<0.01) and QTd (64±14ms vs 154±69 ms, p<0.0001) were more prolonged in VaD. QTVI were generally increased in ischemic stroke patients compared with healthy subjects (p<0.05) but the differences with high statistical significance level were found in VaD patients (p<0.001). We found correlation between QTd, QTVI, hypertension, diabetes, arrhythmia and cognitive impairment.

Prolongation of QT intervals and increased QTVI occurs frequently after ischemic stroke but most significant changes were found in patients with cognitive impairment. Early detection of cognitive impairment in stroke patients provides better prevention of possible dementia.