Sych N. Cognitive impairments in patients in the acute period of brain infarction

Studied were peculiarities of cognitive and emotional impairment in 123 patients in the acute period of brain infarction (BI) among whom patients with discirculatory encephalopathy (DE) of vascular genesis in premorbid prevailed. It was defined that within the fist three days of brain infarction, cognitive impairments (CI) develop in 64,78% of cases according to the MMSE scale; emotional impairments develop in 56,34 % of cases. More expressed CI have been observed in patients who developed BI against the background of DE. Patient's age (> 60 years of age), educational status, etiological aspect (combination of hypertension, cerebral atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus and obesity), localization of BI and DE in premorbid have been proven to influence the intensity of CI in the acute period of BI, while gender doesn't play a role. It has been proved that cognitive impairments are directly related to the cerebral hemodynamics disturbances. Research of neuroaminoacids showed that with the increase of excitatory essential amino acids (EAA) and decrease of the inhibiting ones as well as of histidine and cystine, cognitive functions deteriorate. Research of S-100 protein and neuron-specific enolase showed that they can be considered as an additional biochemical measurement of cognitive dysfunction in this category of patients. MRI findings show that patients in the acute period of brain infarction with cognitive impairments have atrophic changes mostly in the cortex of the temporal and frontal lobes, reduction of hippocampus area (in elderly patients) and leukoaraiosis (mostly anterior) indicating the neurodegenerative process and possibly mixed character of cognitive impairments. It has been proved that Corvitin is an appropriate medicine for the patients in the acute period of brain infarction with cognitive impairments