SID(S) – Definition und Klassifikation

Abstract

Data on the relationship between Parkinson’s disease (PD) and stroke have been conflicting, some stud-ies showing a reduced risk of stroke during life, and oth-ers indicating an increased risk of stroke-related death. Consecutive cases (n =617) of autopsy-proven idiopathic PD (Lewy body disease of the brain stem type) and age-matched controls (n =535) were compared using current routine and immunohistochemical methods. The total fre-quency of cerebrovascular lesions (lacunes, amyloid an-giopathy, white matter lesions, old and recent ischemic in-farcts and hemorrhages) in PD (44.0%) was higher than in controls (32.8%), while acute, often fatal ischemic or he-morrhagic strokes were less frequent in parkinsonian pa-tients (1.8% vs 2.6%). Like previous postmortem findings in a smaller cohort, these findings neither indicate a pro-tective effect against stroke nor a greater susceptibility to death from stroke in the populations studied. Cognitive impairment in PD appears to be largely independent from coexistent vascular pathology except in cases with severe cerebrovascular lesions.