The modified Hachinski ischaemic scale is an attempt to differentiate Alzheimer's type dementia and multi-infarct dementia.
Patients are scored according to certain clinical features:
Clinical feature Score
Abrupt onset of dementia 2
Stepwise deterioration 1
Somatic complaints 1
Emotional incontinence 1
Hypertension (past or present) 1
History of stroke 2
Focal neurological symptoms 2
Focal neurological signs 2
(There are no intermediate scores for 2-point features i.e. either 0 or 2)
A score of 2 or less are typical of a patient with Alzheimer's disease.
A score of greater than 2 is typical of multi-infarct dementia.
Recent research has shown that the Hachinski score has no predictive value when using autopsy as the gold-standard diagnostic tool.
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