Decreased integrity of the monoaminergic tract is associated with a positive response to MPH in patients with vascular cognitive impairment - proof of principle study STREAM-VCI.

Leijenaar JF, Ingala S, Sudre CH, Mutsaerts HM, Leeuwis AE, van der Flier WM, Scheltens P, Weinstein HC, Barkhof F, van Gerven J, Groeneveld GJ, Prins ND

Patients with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) are very heterogeneous in both symptoms and type of cerebrovascular pathology. This might be an important reason why there is no symptomatic treatment available for VCI patients. In this study, we investigated in patients with VCI, whether there was an association between a positive response to methylphenidate and galantamine and the type of cerebrovascular disease, structural damage to specific neurotransmitter systems, cerebral perfusion, and presence of co-morbid Alzheimer (AD) pathology.