Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Oct 2021)
Improving Collateral Circulation: A Potential Adjunctive Strategy to Prevent or Slow the Progression of Vascular Dementia
Abstract
Baoyu Wei,1 Zhaoqi Wang,1 Shihao Wu,1 John Orgah,1 Jinqiang Zhu,1 Wanshan Song2 1State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, 301617, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Acupuncture and Cerebropathy, Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, 300250, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Wanshan Song; Jinqiang Zhu Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Vascular dementia (VaD), a cognitive disorder caused by cerebrovascular pathologies, is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, being second only to Alzheimer’s disease. Researches have shown that adequate cerebral blood flow (CBF) is the first condition for maintaining the structural integrity and normal function of the brain, and VaD is generally considered to be resulted from neuronal loss due to reduced CBF. Collateral circulation, a compensation mechanism for CBF, provides an alternative vascular pathway for blood to reach ischemic tissues, which has been confirmed to be associated with better clinical outcomes of ischemic diseases. At present, considerable effort has been devoted to enhancing the functional prognosis of acute ischemic stroke by improving collateral circulation. Since ischemic stroke is the primary contributor to VaD, it is necessary to explore whether improving collateral circulation is beneficial to prevent or slow the progression of VaD. This article reviews the compensatory characteristics of different levels of cerebral collateral circulation, addresses the relationship between collateral circulation and VaD, and highlights that improving collateral circulation may be a potential adjunctive strategy in preventing and slowing the progression of VaD.Keywords: vascular dementia, cerebral blood flow, collateral circulation, pathology, precaution, palliation
