Modified Hachinski ischaemic scale

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.