Absence of cholinergic deficits in pure vascular dementia

Choline acetyltransferase in temporal cortex was evaluated as a marker of cholinergic function in autopsied dementia cases ( 9 vascular dementia [VaD] cases, 12 mixed VaD and Alzheimer disease [AD] cases, 10 AD cases, 12 control subjects). Patients with AD (t = 2.5, p = 0.02) and mixed VaD and AD (t = 3.8, p = 0.001) had greater cholinergic deficits than age-matched control subjects and patients with pure VaD. The absence of cholinergic deficits in pure VaD may be relevant to the pharmacologic treatment of these patients.