DEMENTIA PRECEDING MOTOR SYMPTOMS IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE - A CASE-STUDY

A 57-year-old man developed signs of cognitive decline followed, 2 yea rs later, by mild extrapyramidal symptoms. Neuropathologic examination demonstrated Lewy bodies almost exclusively confined to the substanti a nigra and brainstem nuclei (consistent with idiopathic Parkinson's d isease [PD] alone) with the superimposition of dystrophic neurites in areas CA2-3 of the hippocampus immunostained with antibodies to ubiqui tin. This case study demonstrates that dementia may be a presenting sy mptom of PD and supports a continuity between PD and diffuse Lewy body disease.