Introduction: Impulse control disorders have been reported in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), and in users of dopamine agonists. We report three cases of patients with parkinsonian symptoms and hypersexuality, an impulse control disorder associated with pramipexole use. Case reports: Case 1: A 62-year-old man with PD treated with levodopa/carbidopa. He needed to start pramipexole and twelve months later he presented hypersexuality that improved with escitalopram. Case 2: A 66-year-old man with PD treated with levodopa/carbidopa, entacapone and clonazepam. He needed to start pramipexole; sixteen months later he presented hypersexuality that disappeared with escitalopram. Case 3: A 45-year-old man with Parkinsonism secondary to acute disseminated encephalomyelitis treated with risperidone, amitriptyline and clonazepam. He needed to start pramipexole; two months later, he presente...

Due to the increasing prevalence of dementia in the world we must put special attention to diagnostic evaluation of pre-dementia stages. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) could be considered an early stage of dementia, particularly of Alzheimer's disease (AD), so we consider important proper diagnosis using reliable and sensitive tools and techniques in order to discriminate subjects with normal and pathological aging. Epidemiological studies show high prevalence of MCI in the general population as well as progression of MCI to dementia and AD, especially in subjects with amnesia type MCI. Age, APOE-ε4 carrier status, hippocampus atrophy by MRI, and presence of certain biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid can influence conversion. Evaluation of patients with MCI suspicion should be the same used in suspicion of dementia and AD. Neuropsychological assessment is the only test confirming diagno...

Objective: To determine the prevalence and types of dementia in a Lima’s urban community. Design: Bietapic conglomerate sampling. Setting: Private health institutions. Patients: Older than 65 years subjects. Interventions: In the Cercado de Lima district, 1 532 older than 65 years subjects randomly selected had brief neuropsychological evaluations including the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), drawing the Clock Test (PDR), and Pfeffer’s functional activities questionnaire (PFAQ). According to the results obtained, individuals were classified as selected or not selected. The group selected included those subjects presenting/displaying cognitive deterioration, who further had neurological and neuropsychological evaluations, laboratory tests and brain computed tomography (TC). Main outcome measures: Dementia prevalence. Results: We found 105 cases of dementia corresponding to 6,95%...

Objectives: To analyze the effects of cholinesterase inhibitors (CHEIs) prescribed for treatment of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease (PDD). Design: Open essay study. Setting: Neurology Service, Hospital Militar Central, and Cognitive Deterioration Diagnosis Unit and Dementia Prevention, Clinica Internacional. Participants: Patients with dementia associated to Lewy bodies and dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease. Interventions: Outcome measures included the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Clinical Global Impression of Change (ADCS-CGIC), Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADCS-ADL), Neuro-Psychiatry Inventory (NPI), Ten Point Clock-Drawing Test (CDT) and Unified Parkinson´...

Dementia associated to human immunodeficiency virus infection (DHIV) is an entity distinguished by three main signs -cognitive, behavioral and motor symptoms- which generate serious difficulties in the functional capacity of the patient. The multiple denominations generate confusion and diagnostic difficulties. In spite of controversy in DHIV incidence, it is clear that more than 90% of patients with AIDS has compatible neuropathological anormalities with DHIV. The pathogenic mechanisms involve complex interactions between the HIV and the brain cells generating two inclusive paths, inflammatory and non inflammatory, that produce neurotoxic and chemotactic factors, inductors of apoptosis that lead to neuro-glial disruption probably responsible of injury and/or neuron cell death, that finally would lead to accelerated neurodegeneration phenomenon. Symptoms are subcortical dementia, mental ...

El Minimental State Examination (MMSE) es una de las pruebas cognitivas breves más utilizadas en el mundo para el tamizaje de pacientes con quejas cognitivas. El MMSE fue diseñado originalmente en inglés (1), y posteriormente validado al español.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory, autoimmune and neurodegenerative central nervous system disease characterized by motor and sensitive function loss; it is considered to be one of the principal causes of disability in young adults. Recently, cognitive impairment has gain considerable attention because it is a frequent symptom that causes disability. Cognitive impairment it is present in 40 to 65% of patients and affects speed of information processing, complex attention, working memory, visual and verbal memory, verbal fluency and executive functions. It may be present in radiologically isolated syndrome, clinically isolated syndrome and in the different stages of the disease; it is responsible for patient’s dependence and for the difficulties to maintain or get an employment. Cognitive impairment is associated to thalamic atrophy and a correlation with brain atrophy and cerebral ...

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a widely recognized neurodegenerative condition in people under 65 years old. The diagnosis of behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) is based on a comprehensive clinical assessment, complemented by a multidimensional assessment (neurological, cognitive, neuropsychiatric, biomarker and brain imaging) adapted and validated to the population to be studied; however, despite its increasing prevalence in Latin America and the Caribbean, there is a need for standardized tools and consensus for the bvFTD diagnosis. The manuscript attempts to approximate the approach for the diagnosis of bvFTD in the setting of low and middle-income countries, including Peru.

ABSTRACT Introduction To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of three brief cognitive screening (BCS) tools, Peruvian version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE-Pe), of INECO Frontal Screening (IFS-Pe) and of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-Pe), for the diagnosis of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and its non-dementia stages (VCI-ND) and vascular dementia (VD) in patients with cerebral stroke in Lima—Peru. Materials and methods A cohort analysis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of three BCS for VCI. Results Two hundred and four patients were evaluated: 61% Non-VCI, 30% VCI-ND and 9% VD. To discriminate patients with VCI from controls, the area under the curve (AUC) of ACE-Pe, IFS-Pe and MMs-Pe were 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98–0.99), 0.99 (95%CI 0.98–0.99) and 0.87 (95%CI 0.82–0.92), respectively. Of the three BCS, the IFS-Pe presented a larger AUC...

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPN por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado.

ABSTRACT Background: The accurate diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders in illiterate Peruvian populations is challenging, largely owing to scarcity of brief cognitive screening tools (BCST) validated in these diverse populations. The Peruvian version of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS-PE) is a BCST that relies minimally on educational attainment and has shown good diagnostic accuracy in an urban illiterate population in Peru, yet its psychometric properties in illiterate populations in rural settings of the country have not been previously investigated. Objectives: To establish the diagnostic accuracy of the RUDAS-PE compared to expert clinical diagnosis using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale in healthy and cognitively impaired illiterate persons living in two culturally and geographically distinct rural communities of Peru. Methods: A cross-sectional, pop...

ABSTRACT The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), characterized by early behavioral abnormalities and late memory impairment, is a neurodegenerative disorder with a detrimental impact on patients and their caregivers. bvFTD is often difficult to distinguish from other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), using brief cognitive tests. Combining brief socio-cognitive and behavioral evaluations with standard cognitive testing could better discriminate bvFTD from AD patients. We sought to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of brief socio-cognitive tests that may differentiate bvFTD and AD patients with low educational levels. Methods: A prospective study was performed on 51 individuals over the age of 50 with low educational levels, with bvFTD or AD diagnosed using published criteria, and who were receiving neurological care at a multidisciplinary neur...

ABSTRACT Introduction Although the absence of memory impairment was considered among the diagnostic criteria to differentiate Alzheimer's disease (AD) from Behavioural Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD), current and growing evidence indicates that a significant percentage of cases of bvFTD present with episodic memory deficits. In order to compare the performance profile of the naming capacity and episodic memory in patients with AD and bvFTD the present study was designed. Methods Cross-sectional and analytical study with control group (32 people). The study included 42 people with probable AD and 22 with probable bvFTD, all over 60 years old. Uniform Data Set instruments validated in Spanish were used: Multilingual Naming Test (MINT), Craft-21 history and Benson's complex figure, among others. Results: A higher average age was observed among the patients with AD. The naming cap...

Background: The Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL) scale is a versatile functional assessment tool for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We evaluated its performance in controls, Peruvians with MCI or AD. Methods: A cross-sectional study of older adults attending a neurology institute in Lima (Peru) with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), AD or cognitively healthy. Test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC; internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha) and validity were assessed. Results: We enrolled 276 individuals (AD: 113, MCI: 68, controls: 95) with no age, sex, educational level, and depressive symptom differences. Reliability was ideal (ICC: .996), and Cronbach’s alpha was adequate (.937). The ADCS-ADL could not differentiate MCI from controls but did differentiate AD severity. The ADCS-ADL correlated highly with...

“Background: Many low- and middle-income countries, including Latin America, lack access to biomarkers for the diagnosis of prodromal Alzheimer's Disease (AD; mild cognitive impairment due to AD) and AD dementia. MRI visual rating scales may serve as an ancillary diagnostic tool for identifying prodromal AD or AD in Latin America. We investigated the ability of brain MRI visual rating scales to distinguish between cognitively healthy controls, prodromal AD and AD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from a multidisciplinary neurology clinic in Lima, Peru using neuropsychological assessments, brain MRI and cerebrospinal fluid amyloid and tau levels. Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), posterior atrophy (PA), white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and MTA+PA composite MRI scores were compared. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were determined. Results: Fifty...

Background:The Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL) scale is a versatile functionalassessment tool for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We evaluated its performance in controls, Peruvians with MCI orAD.Methods:A cross-sectional study of older adults attending a neurology institute in Lima (Peru) with mild cognitive impairment(MCI),ADor cognitively healthy. Test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC; internal consistency, Cronbach’salpha) and validity were assessed.Results:We enrolled 276 individuals (AD: 113, MCI: 68, controls: 95) with no age, sex, educational level, and depressivesymptom differences. Reliability was ideal (ICC: .996), and Cronbach’s alpha was adequate (.937). The ADCS-ADL could notdifferentiate MCI from controls but did differentiateADseverity. The ADCS-ADL correlated highly with nearly all too...

“Background: Many low- and middle-income countries, including Latin America, lack access to biomarkers for the diagnosis of prodromal Alzheimer's Disease (AD; mild cognitive impairment due to AD) and AD dementia. MRI visual rating scales may serve as an ancillary diagnostic tool for identifying prodromal AD or AD in Latin America. We investigated the ability of brain MRI visual rating scales to distinguish between cognitively healthy controls, prodromal AD and AD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from a multidisciplinary neurology clinic in Lima, Peru using neuropsychological assessments, brain MRI and cerebrospinal fluid amyloid and tau levels. Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), posterior atrophy (PA), white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and MTA+PA composite MRI scores were compared. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were determined. Results: Fifty...

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate caregiver burden based on Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and depression in caregivers on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Methods: Literate individuals, 18 years or older, who spoke Spanish as their native language were included. Demographic characteristics: Age, sex, education, relationship to person with dementia, length of time caregiving, other sources of help for caring, impact on the household economy, family support, and perception of impaired health; and Clinical data on care-recipients: type of dementia, time since diagnosis, treatment, and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS); the ZBI and BDI-II. Descriptive and analytical statistics were employed to assess caregiver burden and predictors of higher burden in caregivers. Results: A total of 92 informal caregivers were evaluated. Regarding care-recipients, 75% were 69 years old...

RESUMO Demência é uma das principais causas de dependência e incapacidade entre idosos, e impõe enormes encargos econômicos. Apenas alguns estudos de custo-de-doença para a demência foram realizados em países de renda média e baixa. OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os custos relacionados com demência em pacientes de uma clínica particular, em Lima, Peru. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado estudo retrospectivo de uma coorte durante três meses para extrair informações de prontuários de pacientes com demência para avaliar a utilização de recursos tanto de saúde como outros. Os custos totais da doença foram divididos em diretos (despesas de assistência médica e social) e indiretos (custos de cuidados informais). RESULTADOS: Em 136 pacientes ambulatoriais, observou-se que, enquanto metade dos pacientes não dementes teve custos totais de cuidados de menos de US$ 23 ao...

Background/Aims: Dementia is a worldwide public health problem and there are several diagnostic tools for its assessment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Memory Alteration Test (M @ T) to discriminate between patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD), patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI), and subjects with a cognitively healthy status (CHS). Methods: The discriminative validity was assessed in a sample of 90 patients with AD, 45 patients with a-MCI, and 180 subjects with CHS. Clinical, functional, and cognitive studies were independently performed in a blinded fashion and the gold standard diagnosis was established by consensus on the basis of these results. The test performance was assessed by means of a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis as area under the curve (AUC). Results: M @ T mean scores were 17.7 (SD = 5.7) in ...