Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is an increasingly recognized entity which overlaps in clinical, pathological and genetic features with Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinically, it is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment with significant fluctuations in alertness, parkinsonism, and psychosis with recurrent hallucinations. The neuropathological hallmarks are the intracytoplasmic inclusions in substantia nigra typical of PD, known as Lewy bodies (LB), but widely distributed throughout paralimbic and neocortical regions. Most of the cases also coexist with a plaque predominant AD. The evidence of alpha-synuclein in LB and related neurites as well as of a synuclein fragment in AD plaques opens new links among these neurodegenerative diseases. This article will review briefly the clinical and pathologicalfeatures that DLB shares with AD and PD, as well as those that support the idea that it is a distinct disorder.
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