Risk of left ventricular dysfunction in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease with APOE*4 allele.

ObjectiveTo examine the association between the APOE genotype and cardiovascular disease in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.DesignCase register study of 100 consecutive referrals to a Memory Clinic where type of dementia and cardiovascular comorbidity were diagnosed and APOE genotype was determined.SettingThe Memory Clinic, University Hospital Rotterdam Dijkzigt.ParticipantsOne hundred Memory Clinic patients, 59 to 91 years of age, who attended the Memory Clinic in the period between January 1994 and March 1996.MeasurementsRelative risk of cardiovascular morbidity in probable AD, based on clinical and ECG findings.ResultsThe diagnosis of probable AD was more frequent in APOE*4 allele-carrying AD patients. When comparing homozygotes for APOE*4 with homozygotes for APOE*3, a nine-fold increase in prevalence of cardiac ischemia on ECG was found in the former. When grouping parameters of left ventricular dysfunction, the prevalence was 7.2 (95% confidence interval 1.2-42.6) times greater in probable Alzheimer patients with APOE4/4.ConclusionsIn patients with probable AD, APOE*4 is associated with cardiac disease indicative of left ventricular dysfunction.