Clinical Implications and Limitations
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) accounts for 15-20% of all dementia in old age that can now be accurately diagnosed using operationalised criteria. The most frequent clinical misdiagnosis of DLB is as Alzheimer's disease.
Fifty per cent of patients with DLB show neuroleptic sensitivity reactions with a two- to threefold increase in mortality.
Cholinesterase inhibitors improve cognition, psychosis and other neuropsychiatric features in DLB. They may soon become established as first-line treatment.