Cardiocerebral syndrome in the elderly

Senile cardio-cerebral syndrome refers to cerebral symptoms such as sudden syncope, convulsions, coma, focal neurological signs, and mental and intellectual disturbances caused by reduced cardiac output and decreased systemic blood pressure due to various cardiac diseases. Clinical classifications include the following: Cerebral symptoms caused by acute myocardial infarction: sudden onset, headache, impaired consciousness, convulsions, visual impairment, psychomotor agitation, sense of impending death, and delirious state. Patients who lapse into coma without presenting cardiac symptoms account for 29.7%. It may also occur in the early stage of myocardial infarction. Cerebral symptoms caused by rheumatic heart disease: more common in young and middle-aged patients; however, cerebral symptoms due to rheumatic heart disease in the elderly are also frequently seen. Non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation: the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in adults is 0.4%, increasing with age; in those over 60 years old, it is as high as 2%–4%. Cerebral symptoms caused by various arrhythmias: sick sinus syndrome may present with absence episodes and vertigo attacks, more commonly seen in the very elderly and those with severe arteriosclerosis.