II. Causes : Primary
- Alzheimer's Disease (50-60% of Dementia cases)
- Pick's Disease (Frontotemporal Dementia)
- Vascular Dementia (5-20%)
-
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
- Parkinson's Disease
- Huntington's Disease
- Wilson's Disease
- Progressive supranuclear palsy
III. Causes: Secondary
- Multi-infarct Dementia (15-20% of Dementia cases)
- Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
- Head Trauma
- Mass lesions (Intracranial Tumor)
- Drug toxicity or metabolic disturbance
- Anticholinergic Medications
- Vitamin B12 Deficiency
- Hypothyroidism
- Alcohol-related Dementia
- Wernnicke's Encephalopathy
- Infections
- Creutzfeldt-Jakaob Disease
- Neurosyphilis
- AIDS or Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Opportunistic infection (e.g. Toxoplasmosis, Cryptococcus)
- Encephalitis
- Multiple-systems atrophy
- Hypoperfusion (severe CHF)
IV. Differential Diagnosis
- See Delirium
- See Medication Causes of Delirium in the Elderly
- Major Depression or pseudodementia
V. References
- Khoujah and Magidson (2016) Crit Dec Emerg Med 30(10): 3-10
- Falk (2018) Am Fam Physician 97(6): 398-405 [PubMed]