Visual Manifestations in Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by amnesia, though non-memory-cognitive domains like visual are also affected. We planned to study frequency of visual dysfunctions in AD and their relationship with dementia severity. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the Cognitive clinic of Department of Neurology, Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, Kolkata, between January 2007 and December 2010. 55 patients of AD were evaluated by neurological and neuropsychological assessments and by special tests for visual dysfunctions. Results: Common visual dysfunctions were visuo-constructional (87.3%), visuo-perceptual (63.6%), object agnosia(47.3%), prosopagnosia (45.5%), visual hallucination (27.3%) and simultanagnosia (12.7%). Symptoms of ventral visual pathway dysfunction were more common than that of dorsal pathway. MMSE score and number of visual manifestations had a good correlation. Conclusions: Visual dysfunctions are common in AD, elicitation of which helps us to understand the cause of disability so that appropriate steps can be taken.