J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.  2001 Jun;5(1):36-46.

Clinical Characteristics of Dementia with Lewy Bodies

• Cheon JS
• Chiu E

Abstract

The dementia with Lewy bodies which was common next to the Alzheimer's dementia had been oftenly misdiagnozed as vascular dementia. The pathologic diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies was increasing with the development of immunocytochemical techniques, and it also drew much interest recently. The clinical criteria included core symptoms such as fluctuation of cognitive function, well-formed visual hallucination and extrapyramidal symptoms. For the pathologic criteria, presence of brainstem or cortical Lewy bodies were essential, besides of other pathology. However, it was difficult to obtain satisfactory consensus between investigators about the clinical and pathologic criteria of the dementia with Lewy bodies. There were several reports which suggested good response to the cholinesterase inhibitors.

Keyword

Vascular dementia; Cognitive fluctuation; Visual hallucination; Extrapyramidal symptoms; Cortical Lewy bodies; Cholinesterase inhibitors

MeSH Terms

Brain Stem
Cholinesterase Inhibitors
Consensus
Dementia*
Dementia, Vascular
Diagnosis
Hallucinations
Humans
Lewy Bodies*
Pathology
Research Personnel
Cholinesterase Inhibitors