Differential diagnosis of dementia subtypes

1. Differential diagnosis of dementia subtypes
Alzheimer
disease
• Early, insidious short-term memory loss
• Language deficits & spatial disorientation
• Later personality changes
Vascular
dementia
• Stepwise decline
• Early executive dysfunction
• Cerebral infarction &/or deep white matter changes
on neuroimaging
Frontotemporal
dementia
• Early personality changes
• Apathy, disinhibition & compulsive behavior
• Frontotemporal atrophy on neuroimaging
Dementia with
Lewy bodies
• Visual hallucinations
• Spontaneous parkinsonism
• Fluctuating cognition
• Rapid eye movement behavior disorder
Normal
pressure
hydrocephalus
• Ataxia early in disease
• Urinary incontinence
• Dilated ventricles on neuroimaging
Prion disease
• Behavioral changes
• Rapid progression
• Myoclonus &/or seizures