EVALUATUIN OF COGNITIVE DISORDERS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC BRAIN ISCHEMIA
Cerebrovascular diseases, including chronic brain ischemia (CBI), are one of the leading causes of morbidity, mortality and disability worldwide. Dysfunction of cerebral bloodﬂ ow is followed by diffuse, multifocal morphological changes of the brain, clinical manifestations of memory and attention disorders, decreased work ability; intellectual and emotional disorders and also manifested by neurological syndromes, as well as cognitive disorders.The purpose of the study was to evaluate cognitive disorders in patients with chronic brain ischemia.Neuropsychological testing included the MMSE and MoCA scales of assessing cognitive functions, Schulte tables and Frontal Assessment Batter (FAB). The results of the clock-drawing test showed a signiﬁ cant decrease of points with the progression of CBI (p<0.001): stage I - 9 (8-10) points, stage II - 8 (6-9) points, stage III - 6 (5-7) points. A signiﬁ cant increase of cognitive deﬁ cit at the stages of CBI was revealed during MMSE (p<0.001) and MoCA (p<0.001) tests: 28 (27-29) and 27 (25-28) points in stage I (p<0.001), 26 (26-28) and 25 (24-25) points at stage II, 26 (24-27) and 24 (22-24) points at stage III, respectively, on the scales. 48 (46-50); 54 (52-56); 59 (57-62). The Schulte tables test showed a signiﬁ cant increase in the searching time for numbers with the progression of CBI (p <0.001): stage I - 48 (46-50) sec, stage II - 54 (52-56) sec, stage III - 59 (57-62) sec. FAB testing revealed a decrease of points with an increase of the CBI stage (p<0.001): 18 (17-18) points for stage I, 16 (15-17) points for stage II and 14 (13-15) points for stage III. In patients with CBI, there is a decrease of cognitive functions, because of a decrease of brain activity in conditions of impaired cerebral circulation. Deeper assessment of cognitive functions will allow to timely diagnose and treatment of CBI which will make possible to prevent the progression of the disease