Coronary heart disease is associated with non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment

The progression of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI) to Alzheimer's disease and hypothesized progression of non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment (na-MCI) to non-degenerative or vascular dementias suggest etiologic differences. We examined the association between coronary heart disease (CHD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes in a population-based cohort. Participants (n = 1969; aged 70–89 years) were evaluated using the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, a neurological examination, and neuropsychological testing for diagnoses of normal cognition, MCI, or dementia. CHD was defined as a history of myocardial infarction, angina, angiographic coronary stenosis, or coronary revascularization and ascertained by participant interview and from medical records. CHD was significantly associated with na-MCI (OR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.22–3.06) but not with a-MCI (OR = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.69–1.28). In contrast, ApoE ɛ4 allele was significantly associated with a-MCI (OR = 1.75; 95% CI = 1.28–2.41), but not with na-MCI (OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 0.69–2.00). The association of CHD with prevalent na-MCI but not with a-MCI suggests that CHD and na-MCI may have similar underlying etiologies.