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. 2025 Sep 16:e253242.
doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.3242. Online ahead of print.

Revised Diagnostic Criteria for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia-The VasCog-2-WSO Criteria

VasCog-2-WSO Criteria ConsortiumPerminder S Sachdev  1   2 Adam C Bentvelzen  1 Nicole A Kochan  1 Jiyang Jiang  1 Satoshi Hosoki  1   3 Rebecca Koncz  1   4 Russell J Chander  1 Danit Saks  1 Hugo P Aben  5 Daisy Acosta  6 Pia Andersen  7   8 Frédéric Assal  9 Hee-Joon Bae  10 Geert Jan Biessels  11 Deborah Blacker  12   13 Régis Bordet  14 Emily M Briceno  15   16 Henry Brodaty  1 Amy Brodtmann  17 Paulo Caramelli  18 Erico Castro-Costa  19 Hugues Chabriat  20 Christopher Chen  21 Una Clancy  22 Lucette Cysique  23   24   25 Charles DeCarli  26   27 Ding Ding  28 Marco Duering  29   30   31 Eliasz Engelhardt  32   33 Serge Gauthier  34   35 Fatemeh Geranmayeh  36 Olivier Godefroy  37   38 Philip Gorelick  39 Steven M Greenberg  12 Vesna Jelic  40   41 Hanna Jokinen  42   43 Raj N Kalaria  44 Murali Krishna  45 Kurt Lancaster  46 Frank-Erik de Leeuw  47 Jae-Sung Lim  48 Anna Marseglia  40 Javier Marta-Moreno  49 John T O'Brien  50 Leonardo Pantoni  51   52 Matthew P Pase  53   54 Sarah T Pendlebury  55   56   57   58 Gary Rosenberg  59 Behnam Sabayan  60   61 Emilia Salvadori  51 Katherine Samaras  62   63   64 Ivy Anne Sebastian  65 Sudha Seshadri  66 Eric E Smith  67 Velandai Srikanth  68   69   70 Kathryn Stokes  71 Felipe Kenji Sudo  72 Lukas Sveikata  9 Michael Valenzuela  1 Anders Wallin  73   74 Joanna M Wardlaw  22   22 Qun Xu  75
Affiliations

Revised Diagnostic Criteria for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia-The VasCog-2-WSO Criteria

VasCog-2-WSO Criteria Consortium et al. JAMA Neurol. .

Abstract

Importance: Several sets of diagnostic criteria have been proposed for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). The International Society for Vascular Behavioural and Cognitive Disorders (VasCog) working group published comprehensive operationalized criteria in 2014. Considering subsequent advances in the field, a revision was needed.

Objective: To update the VasCog criteria to achieve consensus on diagnosis of VCID.

Design, setting, and participants: VasCog criteria and other published diagnostic guidelines, aided by literature review of recent developments in VCID, were used as reference points for an online Delphi survey (minimum 3 rounds, ≥75% threshold for agreement), including operationalization of criteria and guidance on potential biomarkers. Seventy international experts from diverse international regions were invited to participate in 2023.

Results: Three survey rounds included 49 to 54 participants that agreed on VasCog-2 diagnostic criteria for preclinical, mild, and major dementia levels of vascular cognitive impairment (under the overarching term VCID). Research guidelines, including the use of novel neuroimaging and fluid biomarkers, were also agreed on. The World Stroke Organization (WSO) endorsed the criteria, hence named VasCog-2-WSO.

Conclusions and relevance: The VasCog-2-WSO criteria update the VasCog criteria for the diagnosis of VCID, providing operationalization and additional guidance on potential neuroimaging and fluid biomarkers. VasCog-2-WSO should provide an international standard for VCID diagnosis, facilitating diagnostic consistency among clinicians and researchers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Sachdev reported receiving advisory board fees from Eisai in 2020, Roche Australia in 2022, and Eli Lilly Australia in 2025 outside the submitted work. Dr Bentvelzen reported receiving personal fees from Eisai Australia outside the submitted work. Dr Briceno reported receiving personal fees from the American Psychological Association for service as associate editor of the Neuropsychology journal outside the submitted work. Dr Brodaty reported receiving personal fees from Eisai, Eli Lilly, Medicines Australia, Roche, Skin2Neuron, and Cranbrook Care outside the submitted work. Dr Caramelli reported receiving advisory board and/or speaker fees from Aché, Biogen, Danone, Eurofarma, Fleury, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Novo Nordisk, Knight Therapeutics, and personal fees from Passage Bio for work as a subinvestigator in a clinical trial outside the submitted work. Dr Gauthier reported serving as an unpaid member of the advisory board for Alzheon; receiving personal fees from AmyriAD, Eisai Canada, Enigma USA, Lilly Canada, Otsuka Canada, Novo Nordisk Canada, TauRx, and AbbVie; and receiving a stipend from The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease editorial board and Sharon Francis Foundation in Toronto, Canada. Dr Godefroy reported receiving personal fees from Eisai and funding for travel and meetings from Biogen, Roche, and Bristol Myers Squibb outside the submitted work. Dr Gorelick reported receiving advisory fees from American Telehealth Physicians/NeuroX, QuantalX, and JLK outside the submitted work. Dr O’Brien reported serving as a consultant for Biogen, Roche, GE Healthcare, and Okwin; receiving honorarium for lectures from GE Healthcare; serving on the advisory board for Data Safety Monitoring Board, TauRx and Novo Nordisk; serving as chair of UK Alzheimer’s Society Research Strategy Council; and receiving academic support for research from Avid/ Lilly, Merck, UCB, and Alliance Medical. Dr Pantoni reported receiving personal fees from Amicus, PIAM, and Medtronic outside the submitted work. Dr Pase reported personal fees from Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. Dr Smith reported the receipt of fees paid to University of Calgary from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to recruit participants in a clinical trial outside the submitted work. Dr Sveikata reported receiving small consultancy fees from Biomapas. Dr Valenzuela reported receiving personal fees from Skin2Neuron Pty Ltd outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Comment in

  • doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.3234

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