Transcranial Doppler imaging revealed middle cerebral artery emboli in nearly half of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (43%) or vascular dementia (45%) in this study. Spontaneous cerebral emboli predicted more rapid progression of dementia over 2 years in both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia cases. The declines in overall functioning and behavior were over two times greater compared to patients who were emboli free. The authors suggest that clinical trials on the inhibition of cerebral emboli for prevention and treatment of dementia would be useful.

Purandare N, Burns A, Morris J, Perry EP, Wren J, McCollum C: Association of Cerebral Emboli with Accelerated Cognitive Deterioration in Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia. Amer. J. Psychiatry 169: 300-308 (2012).

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=1028559