Cognitive syndromes Flashcards
Posterior cortical atrophy variant of AD =
Visual-spatial problems
Younger patients
AD features:
Short-term memory loss - hippocampus
Good social facade
Non-amnestic in 1/3 of sporadic cases (visual, language, executive variants)
FTD features:
Behaviour and speech (L. temporal) problems
Pre-senile associated with ALS
Behavioural variant problems with FTD:
Disinhibition Loss of empathy and emotional reactivity Perseverative, stereotyped or compulsive Hyper-orality + dietary change MMSE 30/30
Speech variant problems with FTD:
Impaired single word/object knowledge
Non-fluent aphasia - understand language, but lack motor ability to talk - effortful/hesitant speech
Features of Lewy body dementia:
With Parkinson’s
Visual hallucinations (animals and children)
Cognitive fluctuations
Dysautonomia
REM sleep disorders
Neuropleptic sensitivity (bad reaction to anti-psychotics)
Features of vascular dementia:
After large vessel stroke
Chronic small vessel ischaemia - step-wise
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy
Hereditary = CADASIL (features are migraine with aura, recurrent ischaemic attacks, cognitive decline and psych symptoms)
What is Wericke’s encephalopathy?
Triad of acute encephalopathy, oculomotor dysfunction and gait ataxia
What do all cognitive patients require?
HIV test
Which cancers can cause limbic encephalitis as a paraneoplastic syndrome?
Small-cell lung (e.g. anti-GABAR)
Thymoma
Testicular seminoma
Which cancers can cause encephalitis as a paraneoplastic syndrome?
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Lymphoma
Thymoma
Which cancers can cause NMDA receptor encephalitis as a paraneoplastic syndrome?
Ovarian teratoma
Symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease:
Rapidly progressive mental deterioration
Myoclonus (sudden jerks)
57-62 years of age onset
Genetics of AD:
Amyloid precursor protein (10-15% of early onset) Presenilin 1 (50% of early-onset) Presenilin 2 (very low %)
Genetics of FTD:
C9ORF72 (also for ALS)
Progranulin
MAPT (also for PSP)
