Dementia is an increasingly frequent clinical syndrome that is characterised by deficits in multiple cognitive domains, changes in behaviour and functional deterioration. Alzheimer's disease, together with vascular dementia, account for 2/3 of all cases of dementia. Other less frequent causes of dementia include dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia. This paper reviews the clinical, pathophysiological and neuroimaging aspects of these four prevalent causes of dementia.
BlackerDHainesJLRodesL: ApoE-4 and age at onset of Alzheimer's disease: The NIMH genetics initiative. Neurology48: 139–47, 1997.
6.
BønaaKHNjolstadIUelandPM: Homocysteine lowering and cardiovascular events after acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med2006: 354.
7.
BurnsALevyR: Clinical Diversity in Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease. Oxford University Press: Oxford1992.
8.
BurnsALuthertPLevyR: Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. BMJ301: 1026, 1990.
9.
CarsonSMcDonaghMSPetersonK: A systematic review of the efficacy and safety of atypical antipsychotics in patients with psychological and behavioural symptoms of dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc54: 354–61, 2006.
CummingsJ: Alzheimer's disease. N Engl J Med2004: 351-56-67.
13.
De la Torre: Is Alzheimer's disease a neurodegenerative or a vascular disorder? Data, dogma, and dialectics. Lancet Neurol3: 184–90, 2004.
14.
FoxNCCrumWRScahillRI: Imaging of onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease with voxel-compression mapping of serial magnetic resonance images. Lancet358: 201–5, 2001.
15.
FrancisPTHolmesCWebsterMT: Preliminary neurochemical findings in non-Alzheimer dementia due to lobar atrophy. Dementia4: 172–7, 1993.
16.
GilmanSKollerMBlackRS: Clinical effects of Aß immunization (AN1792) in patients with AD in an interrupted trial. Neurology64: 1553–62, 2005.
17.
Gomez-TortosaENewellKIrizarryMC: Alphasynuclein immunereactivity in dementia with Lewy bodies: Morphological staging and comparison with ubiquitin immunostaining. Acta Neuropathol99: 352–7, 2000.
18.
HankeyGJ: Secondary prevention of recurrent stroke. Stroke36: 218–21, 2005.
19.
HardyJSelkoeDJ: The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: Progress and problems on the road to therapeutics. Science297: 353–6, 2002.
20.
HuttonMLendonCIRizzuP: Association of missense and 5¢-splice-site mutations in tau with the inherited dementia FTDP-17. Nature393: 702–5, 1998.
21.
JobstKASmithADSzatmariM: Detection in life of confirmed Alzheimer's disease using a simple measurement of medial temporal lobe atrophy by computed tomography. Lancet340: 1179–83, 1992.
22.
KlunkWELoprestiBJIkonomovicMD: Binding of the positron emission tomography tracer Pittsburgh Compound-B reflects the amount of amyloid-ß in Alzheimer's disease brain but not in transgenic mouse brain. J Neurosc25: 10598–606, 2005.
23.
LawesCMMBennettDAFeiginVL: Blood pressure and stroke: An overview of published reviews. Stroke35: 1024–33, 2004.
LonnEYusufSArnoldMJ: Homocysteine lowering with folic acid and B vitamins in vascular disease. N Engl J Med2006: 354.
26.
Lund and Manchester Groups: Consensus statement: Clinical and neuropathological criteria for frontotemporal dementia. J Neurol Neursurg Psychiatry57: 416–8, 1994.
McKeithIGDel SerTSpanoP: Efficacy of rivastigmine in dementia with Lewy bodies: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled international study. Lancet356: 2031–36, 2000.
29.
McKeithIGGalaskoDKosalaK: Consensus guidelines for the clinical and pathologic diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB): Report of the consortium on DLB international workshop. Neurology47: 1113–24, 1996.
30.
McKhannGDrachmanDFolsteinM: Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease. Neurology34: 939–44, 1984.
MinoshimaSFosterNLSimaAA: Alzheimer's disease versus dementia with Lewy bodies: Cerebral metabolic distinction with autopsy confirmation. Ann Neurol50: 358–65, 2001.
33.
NicollJAWilkinsonDHolmesC: Neuropathology of human Alzheimer disease after immunization with amyloid-beta peptide: A case report. Nat Med9: 448–52, 2003.
34.
RatnavalliEBrayneCDawsonK: The prevalence of frontotemporal dementia. Neurology58: 1615–21, 2002.
35.
ReisbergBDoodyRStöfflerA: Memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. N Engl J Med348: 1333–41, 2003.
36.
ShumakerSALegaultCKullerL: Conjugated equine estrogens and incidence of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. JAMA291: 2947–58, 2004.
37.
SnowdonDAGreinerLHMortimerJA: Brain infarction and the clinical expression of Alzheimer's disease: The Nun Study. JAMA277: 813–7, 1997.
38.
TomlinsonBEBlessedGRothM: Observations on the brains of demented old people. J Neurol Sci11: 205–42, 1970.
39.
World Health Organization: The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. World Health Organization: Geneva1992.
