[Lewy body dementia]

Ugeskr Laeger. 2010 May 31;172(22):1675-8.
[Article in Danish]

Abstract

Newer estimations indicate a considerable increase in the number of elderly people with dementia and Lewy body dementia (DLB) in Denmark. Simultaneously, the prescription of antipsychotics to elderly patients remains very high in Denmark. This report reflects on the importance of keeping DLB in mind when physicians encounter elderly demented patients with visual hallucinations, fluctuations and parkinsonism, as 50% of patients with DLB have severe sensitivity to antipsychotics. With new clinical criteria including SPECT of dopaminergic transporters, diagnosis has become sufficiently accurate to differentiate between the two diagnoses.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis
  • Antipsychotic Agents / adverse effects
  • Antipsychotic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Brain / pathology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Lewy Body Disease* / diagnosis
  • Lewy Body Disease* / drug therapy
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins