Cerebrovascular involvement and affective disorders in the elderly

Summary ers of affective tone are extremely diffuse in elderly persons. The present study was designed to find out whether changes in affective status in 18 patients of our geriatric unit with cerebrovascular insufficiency correlate with ischemia-related cerebral damages. The affective state was assessed by means of the geriatric depression scale (GDS) and the cerebral structural alterations were documented by contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). It has been revealed that the GDS scores correlate significantly with the degree of cortical atrophy and of the supratentorial ventricular dilatation.