Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Med J. 2011 Jun;17(3):248-51.
Dementia is a major worldwide public health concern in view of the global ageing phenomenon. Dementia usually occurs in old age. However, if the symptoms occur in young patients, the diagnosis can be challenging. Posterior cortical atrophy is a variant of the Alzheimer's disease, which is described as a presenile disease affecting relatively late-middle-aged patients. A combination of clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging techniques may facilitate making a diagnosis of this particular patient group, as demonstrated in this report. Although there is no effective disease-modifying agent for treating these patients to date, there may be considerable pressure to arrive at a quick and accurate diagnosis from the perspective of employment and insurance.
鉴于全球老龄化现象,痴呆症是一个全球性的主要公共卫生关注点。痴呆症通常发生在老年时期。然而,如果症状出现在年轻患者身上,诊断可能具有挑战性。后部皮质萎缩是阿尔茨海默病的一种变异,被描述为一种影响相对中年后期患者的早发性疾病。本报告表明,临床、神经心理学和神经影像学技术的结合可能有助于对这一特定患者群体进行诊断。尽管迄今为止还没有有效的疾病修饰剂来治疗这些患者,但从就业和保险的角度来看,快速准确地做出诊断可能会面临相当大的压力。