title: The neuropsychiatric profile of posterior cortical atrophy.
abstract: We analyzed scores obtained at the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) by 20 patients with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) and contrasted it with 20 patients having Alzheimer disease (AD). Patients with hallucinations and delusions were not included due to the high probability of a diagnosis of Lewy body disease. Prevalence of behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPSD) was 95% in the PCA group, the most frequent being apathy and anxiety. Cluster analysis on NPI subscales highlighted a behavioral subsyndrome characterized by agitated temper and irritability. Depression, anxiety, and apathy did not cluster with any other BPSD nor with each other. The PCA group showed a significantly higher proportion of anxious patients and worse anxiety score than patients with AD. No correlation was found between NPI data and demographic, clinical, or neuropsychological features nor were there significant differences for the same variables between anxious and nonanxious cases with PCA. In agreement with anecdotal reports, anxiety seems particularly relevant in PCA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Milan Center for Neurosciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy Neurology Unit, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy valeria.isella@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Isella
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Milan Center for Neurosciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy Neurology Unit, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Milan Center for Neurosciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy Neurology Unit, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mapelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Milan Center for Neurosciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy Neurology Unit, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Milan Center for Neurosciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy Neurology Unit, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Ildebrando Marco
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Appollonio
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Milan Center for Neurosciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy Neurology Unit, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrarese
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications; D057565:Apathy; D001284:Atrophy / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007508:Irritable Mood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory
keywords: anxiety; behavioral disturbance; cognitive decline; cognitive impairment; dementia; psychosis