CLINICAL CLASSIFICATION OF DEMENTIAS

The diagnosis of dementia disorders can be made in several steps. The symptomatology, severity and course of the illness must be considered. Memory disturbances must be present. Ante-mortem classification of de mentias is based on known or assumed etiology. The final step is the p ost-mortem diagnosis. Of the primary dementias, Alzheimer-type dementi a is the most important group, Accumulating data indicate that this fo rm can be divided into subgroups. The concept of multi-infarct dementi a (MID) should not be used synonymously with vascular dementia, which is a broader concept, Vascular dementias can also be divided into subg roups, Dementia is an advanced stage of a brain disorder. It seems imp ortant to identify brain disorders before they have reached the advanc ed level of dementia. A name for such disorders is dysmentia.