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Neurological Abnormalities Associated with Severity of Dementia in Alzheimer's Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

F. Jacob Huff  and
John H. Growdon
F. Jacob Huff*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburg
John H. Growdon
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School at the Massachussets General Hospital
*
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburg, 617 Eye and Ear Hospital, 230 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A. 15213
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Abstract:

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Abnormal findings on neurological examination were evaluated in 165 patients with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease who attended a memory disorders clinic. Severity of dementia was measured by the Blessed Dementia Scale, and associations of abnormalities with dementia severity were evaluated using logistic regression. Presence of aphasia, apraxia, and primitive reflexes on neurological examination were strongly associated with severity, and weak associations were observed for abnormalities of muscle tone and gait. Among these associated neurological features, only aphasia and apraxia were present in mildly demented cases with sufficient frequency to suggest utility as diagnostic signs early in the course of the disease.

Type
Clinical and Therapeutic Issues
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 13 , Issue S4 , November 1986 , pp. 403 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1986

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