The development, implementation and evaluation of a transitional care programme to improve outcomes of frail older patients after hospitalisation.

Background: fragmented healthcare systems are poorly suited to treat the increasing number of older patients with multimorbidity.

Objective: to report on the development, implementation and evaluation of a regional transitional care programme, aimed at improving the recovery rate of frail hospitalised older patients.

Methods: the programme was drafted in co-creation with organisations representing older adults, care providers and knowledge institutes.

Optimal screening for increased risk for adverse outcomes in hospitalised older adults.

Background: Screening for frailty might help to prevent adverse outcomes in hospitalised older adults.

Objective: To identify the most predictive and efficient screening tool for frailty.

Design And Setting: Two consecutive observational prospective cohorts in four hospitals in the Netherlands.

MRI measures and progression of cognitive decline in nondemented elderly attending a memory clinic.

Objective: To investigate whether MRI-based volumes of whole brain, medial temporal lobe and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) predict progression of cognitive decline in a sample of nondemented elderly.

Methods: Thirty-seven nondemented elderly attending a memory clinic and 28 elderly controls participated in this follow-up study. The average follow-up period was 1.

Late-onset dementia: structural brain damage and total cerebral blood flow.

Purpose: To prospectively compare indicators of structural brain damage and total cerebral blood flow in patients with late-onset dementia, subjects of the same age with optimal cognitive function, and young subjects.

Materials And Methods: The institutional ethics committee approved the studies, and all participants (or their guardians) gave informed consent. The test group included 17 patients older than 75 years (four men, 13 women; median age, 83 years) and with a diagnosis of dementia according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.

Neuropsychological correlates of MRI measures in the continuum of cognitive decline at old age.

Objective: To investigate the independent associations between medial temporal lobe atrophy and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cognitive functions in the elderly.

Methods: Cognitive functions of 41 Alzheimer's disease patients, 20 patients with mild cognitive impairment and 28 elderly subjects without memory complaints were assessed using a neuropsychological test battery. Quantitative MRI measures of medial temporal lobe volume and WMH were obtained.

Memory complaints in patients with normal cognition are associated with smaller hippocampal volumes.

We aimed to investigate volumetry of the medial temporal lobe in patients with subjective memory complaints without any cognitive impairment. This study included 20 patients with subjective memory complaints and normal cognitive function and 28 controls without memory complaints. Volumes of the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) were measured using coronal T1-weighted MR images.

High-density vs low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as the risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke in old age.

Background: A high total serum cholesterol level does not carry a risk of cardiovascular mortality among people 85 years and older and is related to decreased all-cause mortality. At this old age, there are few data on fractionated lipoprotein levels in the determination of cardiovascular disease risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and mortality from specific causes among people in the oldest age categories.

Magnetization transfer imaging in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether structural brain damage as detected by volumetric magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) is present in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and, if so, whether these abnormalities are global in character or restricted to the temporal lobe. Volumetric MTI analysis of the whole brain and temporal and frontal lobes was performed in 25 patients with probable AD, in 13 patients with MCI, and in 28 controls. Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) histograms were produced, from which we derived measures for structural brain damage and atrophy.