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The pathology and pathophysiology of vascular dementia
Kalaria RN.. Neuropharmacology, 2017-12-19
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Vascular dementia (VaD) is widely recognised as the second most common type of dementia. Consensus and accurate diagnosis of clinically suspected VaD relies on wide-ranging clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging measures in life but more importantly pathological confirmation. Factors defining subtypes of VaD include the nature and extent of vascular pathologies, degree of involvement of extra and intracranial vessels and the anatomical location of tissue changes as well as time after the initial vascular event.
Key findings
- Consensus and accurate diagnosis of clinically suspected VaD relies on wide-ranging clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging measures in life but more importantly pathological confirmation.
- Factors defining subtypes of VaD include the nature and extent of vascular pathologies, degree of involvement of extra and intracranial vessels and the anatomical location of tissue changes as well as time after the initial vascular event.
- Atherosclerotic and cardioembolic diseases combined appear the most common subtypes of vascular brain injury.
- In recent years, cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) has gained prominence worldwide as an important substrate of cognitive impairment.
Why it matters
Vascular dementia is described here as the second most common type of dementia. The paper says a confident diagnosis in life draws on clinical, memory-and-thinking and brain-scan measures, but "more importantly pathological confirmation" — examining the brain itself. It reports that atherosclerotic and cardioembolic disease together "appear the most common subtypes" of vascular brain injury, and that cerebral small vessel disease has gained prominence as "an important substrate of cognitive impairment"; it reports no treatment, cure or prevention.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuropharmacology) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Neuropharmacology: journal h-index 246 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 340 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 34.0 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 11 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 125 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Raj N. Kalaria: h-index 102 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Newcastle University: institution h-index 932 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29273521) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Kalaria, R. N. (2018). The pathology and pathophysiology of vascular dementia. Neuropharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.12.030
Vancouver
Kalaria RN. The pathology and pathophysiology of vascular dementia. Neuropharmacology. 2018. doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.12.030. PMID: 29273521.
BibTeX
@article{kalaria2018-29273521,
author = {Kalaria, R. N.},
title = {{The pathology and pathophysiology of vascular dementia}},
journal = {Neuropharmacology},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.12.030},
pmid = {29273521},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.12.030}
}
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