Dement Neurocogn Disord.  2012 Mar;11(1):18-24. 10.12779/dnd.2012.11.1.18.

Can We Further Divide Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment Based on the Pattern of Memory Deficit?: A Preliminary Study

• Jeong EH
• Kim HY
• Lee JH

• KMID: 2172262
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12779/dnd.2012.11.1.18

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered as a transitional state between normal aging and dementia and can be subdivided into amnestic vs. nonamnestic and single vs. multiple domains types. It is suggested that these clinical subtypes may have different underlying etiologies and outcomes. The amnestic MCI differs in the performance profile on memory testing: retention vs. retrieval deficit. Generally, the retention deficit is attributed to the medial temporal dysfunction and the retrieval deficit to the frontal dysfunction. We tried to determine whether there could be distinctive subtypes available even in the amnestic MCI.
METHODS
Sixty-two patients with amnestic MCI-single domain were included in this retrospective study. They were divided into the retention- vs. the retrieval-deficit groups according to the results of Seoul Verbal Learning Test (SVLT). We compared baseline characteristics including vascular risk factors and neuropsychological profiles. We also measured the medial temporal atrophy (MTA) using a visual rating scale and assessed lacunar infarcts and white matter hyperintensities (WMH).
RESULTS
Of 62 patients, 41 had retention deficit and 21 had retrieval deficit on SVLT. Among baseline clinical and demographic variables, only the frequency of hypertension was higher in the retrieval-deficit group (p=0.005). There were no differences in neuropsychological profiles between the two groups other than a lower immediate recall score in the retention-deficit group (p=0.012) and a higher recognition score in the retrieval-deficit group (p=0.001). Severities of WMH and MTA were not different between the two groups, nor was the number of lacunar infarcts and microbleeds.
CONCLUSIONS
We could not find any significant difference except for the frequency of hypertension between the two subgroups of amnestic MCI, suggesting that there may be no further gain in subdividing a single domain amnestic MCI.

Keyword

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment; Memory; Retention; Retrieval; Medial temporal atrophy; White matter hyperintensities

MeSH Terms

Aging
Atrophy
Dementia
Glutamates
Guanine
Humans
Hypertension
Memory
Memory, Short-Term
Mild Cognitive Impairment
Retention (Psychology)
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Stroke, Lacunar
Verbal Learning
Pemetrexed
Glutamates
Guanine

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