5/5/2021 Dementia Notes: Diagrams & Illustrations | Osmosis

NOTES

NOTES
DEMENTIA

GENERALLY, WHAT IS IT?

PATHOLOGY & CAUSES SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
Acquired, progressive cognitive impairment Memory loss, difficulty retaining new
Involving one/more cognitive functions information
Memory, concentration, language, Language impairment
learning, praxis, judgment, executive Executive dysfunction
functions, social cognition Difficulty in handling complex tasks,
Previous functional-level deterioration; concentration loss, poor judgement
consciousness remains intact Visuospatial ability impairment
Apraxia (inability to perform an action)
CAUSES Behavioral disturbance
Increasing age; most important risk factor Personality change
Alzheimer disease
Vascular dementia including multi-infarct
dementia, Binswanger’s disease DIAGNOSIS
Lewy body dementia (DLB)
DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING
Frontotemporal dementia (e.g. Pick disease)
CT scan
COMPLICATIONS Reveals microinfarcts indicative of vascular
Inability to function independently in dementia
everyday life
Debilitated state infections (death OTHER DIAGNOSTICS
secondary) Mental status examination
See mnemonic for summary Identify cognitive impairment with
standardized mental status scales
Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA),
MNEMONIC: DEMENTIA mini-mental state examination (MMSE)
Common causes of Dementia Neuropsychological testing
Diabetes Quantitate cognitive impairment degree/
Ethanol domains involved (e.g. animal-naming
Medication test)
Environmental (eg CO Post-autopsy brain biopsy
poisoning)
Nutritional
Trauma
Infection
Alzheimer’s

555

https://www.osmosis.org/notes/Dementia#page-1 1/1