Pathological correlates of poststroke depression in elderly patients

Abstract

Objective: The authors examined the relationship between poststroke depression and location of stroke.

Methods: They performed a clinicopathological analysis of 95 consecutively autopsied elderly initial-stroke survivors.

Results: The severity of brain vessel arteriosclerosis and frequency of brain vascular lesions were not significantly different between 21 cases with poststroke depression and 74 cases without. Earlier death was the only variable significantly associated with poststroke depression. No lesion pattern characterized the depression group.

Conclusions: Neuropathological data confirm that depression is associated with worse prognosis in elderly stroke patients and lend support to the hypothesis that psychological rather than neurological factors are the main determinants of poststroke depression.