[A neuropsychological study of Huntington's disease in families in Antioquia, Colombia].
BACKGROUND
Various neuropsychological studies have been conducted to determine the cognitive functioning of patients with Huntington s disease and their results have shown that the pattern of cognitive decline is thought to be typical of a frontal subcortical dementia.


OBJECTIVE
To determine if significant differences exist between the cognitive performances of a group diagnosed with Huntington s disease and a group of healthy, at risk relatives on a series of neuropsychological tests, and to examine the extent to which the Huntington group s cognitive performance profile corresponds to frontal subcortical damage as reported in other studies.


METHODS
The sample was comprised of a group of 18 subjects with a clinical diagnosis of initial stage Huntington s disease and a group of 15 healthy relatives at risk for Huntington s disease. A battery of tests (the CERAD) and additional neuropsychological tests were administered to all subjects.


RESULTS
Compared to the at risk group, the Huntington s disease group scored significantly lower on 85.41% of the tests.


CONCLUSIONS
The neuropsychological tests utilized in this study were useful to discriminate between diagnosed and at risk groups. The Huntington s disease group s global neuropsychological profile was similar to that of a frontal subcortical dementia in which the predominant features include executive functioning deficits, memory problems, visuo constructive alterations, attention deficits, verbal fluency problems and naming deficits.
Arango-Lasprilla
J C
JC
Grupo de Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina. Universidad de Antioquia. Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia. lasprilla50@hotmail.com
Iglesias-Dorado
J
J
Moreno
S
S
Lopera
F
F
D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003105:Colombia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012307:Risk Factors