Author:
Mckeith I. G.,Fairbairn A. F.,Perry R. H.,Thompson P.
Abstract
BackgroundCurrent clinical classifications do not contain specific diagnostic categories for patients with senile dementia of the Lewy body type (SDLT), recently proposed as the second commonest neuropathological cause of dementia in the elderly. This study determines how existing clinical diagnosis systems label SDLT patients and suggests how such patients may be identified.MethodA range of clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia were applied to case notes of autopsy-confirmed SDLT (n = 20), dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT; n = 21) and multi-infarct dementia (MID; n = 9) patients who had received psychogeriatric assessment. The predictive validity of each set of clinical criteria was calculated against the external criterion of neuropathological diagnosis.ResultsMany SDLT patients erroneously met criteria for MID (35% with Hachinski scores ≥ 7) or for DAT (15% by NINCDS ‘probable AD’, 35% by DSM–III–R DAT and 50% by NINCDS ‘possible AD’). Up to 85% of SDLT cases could be correctly identified using recently published specific criteria.ConclusionsDLT usually has a discernible clinical syndrome and existing clinical classifications may need revision to diagnose correctly such patients.
Publisher
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health
Cited by
97 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献