Autonomic dysfunctions in dementia with Lewy bodies

Abstract

Twenty-nine cases of both clinically and neuropathologically diagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) were retrospectively examined for autonomic symptoms. Twenty-eight cases showed some kind of autonomic dysfunction. Urinary incontinence (97 %) and constipation (83 %) were the two most common. Although urinary retention and episodic hypotension causing syncopal attacks were less common, the frequency was still high (28 % each). There were 18 cases (62 %) with severe autonomic failure. These 28 cases showed similar tendencies, with no significant differences between the subtypes of DLB (brainstem, limbic, and neocortical types or common and pure forms). We found that DLB of all pathological subtypes exhibits some kind and level of autonomic symptoms.

Dementia Associates with Undermedication of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Elderly

“…Again, the explanation for this lesser use of ␤ -blockers may be caution when medications which can provoke bradycardia and cardiac arrhythmias leading to syncope are prescribed to demented elderly patients. This is probably true especially in patients with Lewy body dementia or Parkinson's disease with dementia (altogether 8 patients found in this study), where autonomic dysfunction with hypotension and syncopal episodes are very common [34] . However, in the Lieto study, dementia did not predict lower use of ␤ -blockers in multivariate analysis.…”

Factores pronósticos del tratamiento endoscópico del reflujo vesicoureteral en pacientes con lesión medular

“…Las enfermedades de Alzheimer, Binswanger, Nasu-Hakola y Pick y la demencia con cuerpos de Lewy causan con frecuencia DNTUI inespecífica 78 . Se ha comunicado que la aparición de incontinencia urinaria oscila entre el 23 % y 48 % de los pacientes con enfermedad de Alzheimer.…”

Diagnosis and Management of Autonomic Failure in Neurodegenerative Disorders

“…In a series of 29 cases with pathological confirmation, the frequency of OH (defined as SBP lower than 100 mm Hg when standing) including cases without episodes of syncope reached 66%, while syncopal episodes occurred in 28% of patients [17]. Thaisetthawatkul and coauthors compared autonomic dysfunctions in LBD patients with MSA and PD patients.…”

“…The severity of AF was evaluated through the rating of the frequency and scoring of severity of OH and through the scoring of the Composite Autonomic Severity Score (CASS) [18]. They found that the severity of AF in LBD patients was intermediate between MSA and PD patients, with MSA patients being the most severely affected [17,19,20]. …”