Worse diastolic function in elderly without clinical cardiac disease is linked to increased risk of stroke and dementia, while worse systolic function is linked only to stroke.
Is subclinical cardiac dysfunction associated with an increased risk of stroke and dementia in elderly patients without clinical cardiac disease?
Subclinical diastolic and systolic dysfunction in the elderly are associated with increased risks of neurologic diseases such as stroke and dementia, highlighting a potential target for prevention.
In elderly free of clinical cardiac disease, worse diastolic function is associated with clinical stroke, dementia, and silent infarcts on MRI, whereas worse systolic function is related only to clinical stroke. These findings can form the basis for future research on the utility of cardiac function as potential intervention target for prevention of neurologic diseases.
Bruijn et al. (2015) studied this question. Worse diastolic function in elderly without clinical cardiac disease is linked to increased risk of stroke and dementia, while worse systolic function is linked only to stroke.