VICCCS

Vascular Impairment of Cognition Classification Consensus Study

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), or in its most severe form vascular dementia, are terms to describe a group of related impairments and diseases that are caused by damage to the blood supply of the brain.

These have a detrimental impact on people, their relatives and society and there is urgent need for a better understanding of how and why they develop.

Challenges faced in VCI research
Studies of VCI have, for the most part, been limited to relatively small groups of patients, and we still have only a basic understanding of the causes and options for treatment. One of the main obstacles to research into VCI is the use of different criteria by different groups to select and classify people who are included in the studies. When inconsistent selection criteria are used by researchers, it makes it difficult to combine or compare the findings of different studies.

Overcoming a key obstacle in VCI research
VICCCS, led by researchers from the University of Bristol and Queen's University Belfast, aims to tackle this obstacle. The study tries to bring international researchers and clinicians to agreement on a single set of terms and criteria that will be used to help classify different types of VCI. This will improve how research into these debilitating diseases is conducted, and in turn, help to improve diagnosis.

VICCCS is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Society

Want to be involved?

VICCCS News