Cognitive impairment in neuro-Behcet's disease and multiple sclerosis: a comparative study.
Both multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuro-Behcet's disease (NBD) can cause a cognitive dysfunction mainly involving the executive functions. We conducted this study to clarify the probable differential cognitive/behavioral profiles of MS and NBD. Twenty consecutive cases with parenchymal NBD (13 male, seven female), and 20 cases with MS (five male, 15 female) were evaluated. Both groups had a thorough neurological examination; an evaluation for Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC), and Beck's Depression Scale; and a detailed neuropsychological evaluation masked to the diagnosis. Among the two groups, male/female ratio differed significantly while other demographic and clinical features were not different. In California Verbal Learning Test, both short- and long-term delayed recall and cued recognition were worse in neuro-Behcet's cases. They had impaired semantic clustering and increased false positives. Stroop Test was also more impaired in neuro-Behcet's cases. They needed significantly more trials to complete the first category of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and had a poorer total Frontal Behavioral Inventory Score. Our results suggest that neuro-Behcet's patients have a more severe "frontal"-executive dysfunction than MS patients.
Department of Neurology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Tuncay
T
Gündüz
Özgür
Ö
Emir
Murat
M
Kürtüncü
Melike
M
Mutlu
Ayfer
A
Tumaç
Sükriye
S
Akca
Oğuzhan
O
Coban
Sara
S
Bahar
Öget
Ö
Öktem-Tanör
Erdem
E
Tüzün
Mefkure
M
Eraksoy
Hakan
H
Gürvit
Gulsen
G
Akman-Demir
D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests