DEMENTIA IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSONISM DEMENCIJA U OBOLELIH SA PARKINSONIZMOM

Patients with Parkinsonism frequently had a subcortical pattern of neuropsychological dysfunc- tion that is known to be associated with alterations of the frontal-limbic-basal ganglia circuits. Th e aim of this paper was to investigate the cognitive decline, dementia and mood disorders in patients with diff er- ent forms of Parkinsonism. At 118 consecutive patients admitted at the Clinic for Neurology in Skopje with 100 with Parkinsonism and 18 with Parkinsonism plus syndromes (9 with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy- PSP, 5 with Multiple System Atrophy-MSA and 4 with Corticobasal Degeneration-CBD). Complementary neuropschological and neurophysiological investigations (event-related potentials-ERP) and morphologi- cal assessment (CT, MRI) were used in all patients. All patients have been evaluated for many years with a neuropsychological battery and an apprehensive battery administrated to those who had a low score in the MMSE. Dementia was defi ned according to the DSM IV criteria. So, 118 patients were evaluated, with dif- ferent forms of Parkinsonism (n=118), 30% had no cognitive impairment. Twenty-fi ve percents (25%) had cognitive defi cits compatible with dementia. Another 45% of patients had memory defi cits and impairment in another cognitive domain and diff erent forms of mood disorders. Neuropsychological examinations showed a high frequency of cognitive memory decline. Subcortical forms of dementia had also an increased frequency (25%) in patients with diff erent forms of Parkinsonism.