Efficacy and safety of donepezil in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies: results from a 12-week multicentre, randomised, double-blind, and placebo-controlled phase IV study.

Background: Donepezil has been approved in Japan for the treatment of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) based on clinical trials showing its beneficial effects on cognitive impairment. This phase IV study evaluated the efficacy of donepezil by focusing on global clinical status during a 12-week double-blind phase.

Methods: Patients with probable DLB were randomly assigned to the placebo (n = 79) or 10 mg donepezil (n = 81) groups.

A simple method to evaluate the pentagon copy test of the Mini-Mental State Examination for the differentiation of dementia with Lewy bodies.

There are many commonalities between the clinical symptoms of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and those of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The accurate differentiation of these two diseases is an important neuropsychological issue. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is often used as a screening test for dementing disorders.

The Bender Gestalt Test is useful for clinically diagnosing dementia with Lewy bodies: Analysis of its sensitivity, specificity, and clinical characteristics of the figure copy.

A previous study that evaluated the ability of the Bender Gestalt Test (BGT) to discriminate between dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggested that a total score of 98 is the optimal cutoff value for discriminating between these two diseases and that DLB tends to exhibit unique errors; i.e., "element deformation" and "gestalt destruction.

The Cingulate Island Sign on FDG-PET vs. IMP-SPECT to Assess Mild Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease vs. Dementia with Lewy Bodies.

Background And Purpose: The cingulate island sign (CIS) on F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET); ie, the relative preservation of mid-posterior cingulate cortex metabolism, is a supportive biomarker in the diagnostic criteria for dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). However, limited information is currently available on the diagnostic value of the CIS on FDG-PET or I-iodoamphetamine single-photon emission computed tomography (IMP-SPECT) for differentiating between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) (MCI-AD) and MCI due to DLB (MCI-DLB).

Methods: We examined the CIS ratio in 9 AD patients, 9 DLB patients, 8 patients with MCI-AD, and 9 patients with MCI-DLB using FDG-PET and IMP-SPECT.

Evaluating depression in cognitively healthy elderly people by using Mini-Mental State Examination.

Aim: We examined a method for evaluating depression with the Mini-Mental State Examination in cognitively healthy elderly people and employed the projective perspective.

Methods: In MMSE three groups-normal, depressed tendency, and depressed-completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and a Japanese version of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. The Mini-Mental State Examination evaluated individuals' writing based on a sentence, the number of written words, and sentence content; it also assessed their copying of drawn figures.