SYDNEY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists have led an international consortium to unveil new diagnostic criteria for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), a common but less well-known cause of dementia.
The criteria aim to bring clarity and consistency to the diagnosis of VCID, which includes vascular dementia and milder forms of vascular-related cognitive decline, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Center for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) of Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW).
Published in JAMA Neurology, a journal under the American Medical Association, the new VASCOG-2-WSO Criteria is an update of the original VASCOG criteria released in 2014, the statement said.
Backed by the World Stroke Organization, the consortium's new criteria incorporate the latest developments in neuroimaging and biomarkers to provide detailed, practical guidance for global clinical and research diagnosis, it said.
VCID, caused by damage to the brain's blood vessels, is the second most common cause of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. Despite its prevalence and preventability, progress has been hampered by a lack of standardized diagnostic tools, researchers said.
"With these criteria, we now have an international standard that will help clinicians more confidently diagnose vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia, and support more targeted, collaborative research," said Prof. Perminder Sachdev, study lead author and co-director of CHeBA.
The criteria, which reflect input from over 50 world-leading clinicians and researchers in ageing, dementia and stroke, introduce new categories such as "preclinical" or "at-risk" VCID, helping identify people who may benefit from early intervention before symptoms emerge.
The new criteria align with recent international dementia guidelines and are already being endorsed as a global benchmark for the field, the statement said. ■
