[Elevated incidence of cognitive impairment in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis].

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is one of the main causes of mortality and functional disability in developed countries. Carotid stenosis (CS) is considered the reason for 20-30% of strokes. However, the studies that have gone into depth on the cognitive status of these patients are limited.

AIM: To investigate the cognitive performance of CS patients and its relationship with clinical variables (carotid obstruction, lifestyle).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 33 CS patients were evaluated using a broad neuropsychological protocol, and were divided into two groups: symptomatic CS and asymptomatic CS.

RESULTS: 50-57% of CS patients showed deficits in processing speed and visual memory (immediate recall). 41.9% showed altered performance in semantic fluency, whereas the percentage was 30% in digits subtest. The percentage of altered performance was 20-27% in verbal memory (learning curve, delayed recall) and visual memory (delayed recall). No significant differences were found between the symptomatic CS and asymptomatic CS groups. Cognitive performance correlated significantly with lifestyle scale factors, but not with the percentage of carotid obstruction.

CONCLUSION: A high percentage of CS patients showed a clinically altered performance in different cognitive domains, regardless of suffering vascular neurological symptoms (symptomatic vs asymptomatic CS). A close relationship was found between lifestyle and cognitive status of CS patients.