Prevalence of dementia and regional brain syndromes in long-standing Parkinson's disease

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dementia a nd regional brain syndromes in a community-based sample including 65 patien ts with long-standing Parkinson's disease (PD). A range of rating scales, a mong them a modification of the Stepwise Comparative Status Analysis, was u sed. Twenty-one patients (32%) met the DSM-III criteria for dementia. Thirt y-one of the patients (48%) exhibited regional brain syndromes: nine had an terior; eight posterior; and three global regional brain syndromes; and one had another complex regional brain syndrome. The posterior brain syndrome was significantly more common in the group with dementia (P < 0.001). (C) 1 999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.