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DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis
of vascular dementia |
A. The development of multiple cognitive deficits
manifested by both:
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Memory impairment (impaired ability to learn new information
or to recall previously learned information)
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One or more of the following cognitive disturbances:
(a) aphasia (language disturbance)
(b) apraxia (impaired ability to carry out
motor activities depite intact motor function)
(c) agnosia (failure to recognize or identify
objects despite intact sensory function)
(d) disturbance in executive functioning
(i.e., planning, organizing, sequencing, abstracting)
B. The cognitive deficits in criteria A1 and
A2 each cause significant impairment in social or occupational
functioning and represent a significant decline from a previous
level of functioning.
C. Focal neurological signs and symptoms (e.g.,
exggeration of deep tendon reflexes, extensor plantar response,
psuedobulbar palsy, gait abnormalities, weakness of an extremity)
or laboratory evidence indicative of cerebrovascular disease
(e.g., multiple infarctions involving cortex and underlyig
white matter) that are judged to be etiologically related
to the disturbance.
D. The deficits do not ocurr exclusively during
the course of a delirium.
Reference
American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition,
Text Revision. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association,
2000.
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