Cognitive burden and excess Lewy-body pathology in the Lewy-body variant of Alzheimer disease.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
Authors compared the degrees of cognitive deficit among individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD), the Lewy-body variant of AD (LBV), and "pure" dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB); and compared cortical Lewy body (LB) counts in LBV versus DLB and neuritic plaque and neurofibrillary tangle severity in LBV versus AD.

METHODS:
Authors examined brain specimens from consecutive autopsies of elderly nursing home subjects. Numbers and densities of plaques, Lewy bodies, and tangle severity were determined in multiple cortical regions, and demographic and clinical variables were compared among the three groups.

RESULTS:
The three groups did not differ in demographic or clinical variables. The LBV group was significantly more impaired than the other groups. Cortical LB counts were significantly higher in LBV than in DLB. There was no evidence of increased plaque or tangle severity in LBV than in AD.

CONCLUSION:
The co-occurrence of AD and LB pathology is associated with higher numbers of LBs and more severe dementia than when classical AD or LB lesions occur alone.

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Author information

Author/s: Serby, Michael (M); Brickman, Adam M (AM); Haroutunian, Vahram (V); Purohit, Dushyant P (DP); Marin, Deborah (D); Lantz, Melinda (M); Mohs, Richard C (RC); Davis, Kenneth L (KL);

Affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Grants: P01 AG 02219 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; P50 AG 05138 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2003 May-Jun; vol 11 (issue 3) : pp 371-4

Dates: Created 2003/05/01; Completed 2003/10/07; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 12724118, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Alzheimer Disease - pathology
Brain - pathology
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cost of Illness
Culture Techniques

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