Rapidly progressive dementia in a patient with the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease

Armstrong, T. P. MD
Hansen, L. A. MD
Salmon, D. P. PhD
Masliah, E. MD
Pay, M. RN
Kunin, J. M. MD
Katzman, R. MD

Department of Neurosciences (Dr. Armstrong), University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA; the Departments of Neurosciences and Pathology (Dr. Hansen), University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA; the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Dr. Salmon and M. Pay), University of California at San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, CA; the Department of Neurosciences (Drs. Masliah and Katzman), University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA; and Sharp Memorial Hospital (Dr. Kunin), San Diego, CA.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. L.A. Hansen, Departments of Neurosciences and Pathology, University of California at San Diego, M-024, La Jolla, CA 92093.

Supported by National Institutes of Health grants AGO8201 and AGO5131, the PEW Charitable Trust, and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association.

Received November 5, 1990. Accepted for publication in final form January 8, 1991.

Neurology 41(8):p 1178-1180, August 1991.

Article abstract

A 65-year-old woman presented with a mild memory impairment, spatial disorientation, and poor task initiation. Progression was rapid over 3 months. She developed severe apathy, delusions, extrapyramidal features, and psychometrically quantified cognitive deterioration. Her brain showed many neocortical neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles along with neocortical and brainstem Lewy bodies and temporal lobe spongiform vacuolization. This case is the most rapid deterioration documented of a patient with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy bodies.