Document Detail


How to diagnose dementia with Lewy bodies: state of the art.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  16092075     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia in older people that has only been recognized in the past decade and that remains widely underdiagnosed. At postmortem examination, affected patients show numerous alpha-synuclein-positive Lewy bodies (LB) in many parts of the cerebral cortex, particularly neocortical and limbic areas in addition to the nigral LB degeneration characteristic of Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinical presentation, unlike PD, is with progressive cognitive decline with particular deficits of visuospatial ability as well as frontal executive function accompanied by usually only mildly to moderately severe parkinsonism, which is often akineto-rigid without the classical parkinsonian rest-tremor. Further accompanying features include spontaneous recurrent visual hallucinations and conspicuous fluctuations in alertness and cognitive performance. The two main differential diagnoses are Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). To improve the differential diagnosis of DLB, consensus criteria have been developed that establish possible and probable levels of clinical diagnostic accuracy. Generally, their sensitivity is variable and low but their specificity is high. Current consensus is to restrict a diagnosis of DLB only to patients with parkinsonism who develop dementia within 12 months of the onset of motor symptoms. Using operationalized criteria, DLB can be diagnosed clinically with an accuracy similar to that achieved for AD or PD. Ancillary investigations, particularly neuroimaging, can aid in differential diagnosis. We review the present state of the best practice in the clinical diagnosis of DLB. Future modifications of diagnostic criteria would ideally include the full range of clinical presentations that can be associated with LB disease.
Authors:
Felix Geser; Gregor K Wenning; Werner Poewe; Ian McKeith
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Review    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society     Volume:  20 Suppl 12     ISSN:  0885-3185     ISO Abbreviation:  Mov. Disord.     Publication Date:  2005 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2005-08-15     Completed Date:  2005-12-13     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8610688     Medline TA:  Mov Disord     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  S11-20     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2005 Movement Disorder Society.
Affiliation:
Clinical Department of Neurology, Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. felix.geser@uibk.ac.at
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Accidental Falls / statistics & numerical data
Age Factors
Aged
Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis
Brain / pathology
Cerebral Cortex / metabolism
Cognition Disorders / epidemiology
Diagnosis, Differential
Dysarthria / epidemiology
Electromyography
Hallucinations / epidemiology
Humans
Hypotension, Orthostatic / epidemiology
Lewy Bodies / metabolism
Lewy Body Disease / diagnosis*,  epidemiology,  metabolism
Limbic System / metabolism
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Parkinson Disease / diagnosis
Substantia Nigra / metabolism
Urinary Incontinence / epidemiology
alpha-Synuclein / metabolism
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/alpha-Synuclein

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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