The following features suggest vascular dementia
- Patchy deficits
- Better free recall
- Fewer recall intrusions
- Early apathy
- Poor verbal fluency
- Vascular risk factors
- Relative preservation of personality
- Neurological signs e.g pseudobulbar palsy, brisk reflexes
- Erratic progression
- Signs of hypertension and arteriolocsclerosis on physical examination
The Hatchinski ischemic score is used to differentiate between the two. score above 6 suggests vascular dementia and below 5 suggestive dementia of Alzheimer type.