title: Hashimoto's encephalopathy in the elderly: relationship to cognitive impairment.
abstract: Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is a steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with high titers of antithyroid antibodies. To date, 57 pediatric-, adult-, and elderly-onset cases have been described in the literature. The clinical picture is pleomorphic, and cognitive impairment is a frequently reported symptom. We report the case of a patient with slowly progressive cognitive impairment possibly caused by HE. The issue of the differential diagnosis with primary dementia is discussed. A review of cases of HE showing cognitive deterioration is also presented, and factors possibly related to characteristics of cognitive impairment and outcome after therapy are considered.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Neuroimaging, IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galluzzi
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geroldi
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.forename: Giovanni B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Frisoni
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins