Association between the Presence of the Parasagittal Cyst-like Structures and Cognitive Function.

Purpose: A cyst-like structure near superior sagittal sinus (Arachnoid Cuff Exit Site cysts: ACES cysts) has been reported in MRI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between presence of ACES cysts and cognitive function, as assessed using mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent head MRI for dementia screening.

Classification of transient epileptic amnesia attacks: Two types of amnestic seizures, the pure amnesia type and partial amnesia type.

Aim: Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a type of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy characterized by recurrent amnesia attacks. In 1998, Zeman et al. proposed the following diagnostic criteria for TEA: (1) recurrent, witnessed episodes of amnesia (TEA attacks); (2) other cognitive functions remain intact during attacks; and (3) evidence of epilepsy.

[Epileptic Amnesia].

With the rise in the number of elderly individuals with dementia, the importance of the following two types of epileptic amnesia has become increasingly recognized. One is transient epileptic amnesia (TEA), which is known to have a high frequency of complications such as accelerated long-term forgetting and autobiographical amnesia; the definition and significance of the TEA complex syndrome (TEACS), an extension of the TEA concept, are described. The other is epileptic cognitive impairment resembling Alzheimer's disease (ECI-A), the definition and characteristics of which are presented along with cases encountered by the author, as reported for TEACS.

A proposal for a new concept in psychiatric phenomenology: The "Yume-Utsutsu" (dreamy or half-asleep) phenomenon in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies.

Background: Patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) present with a variety of physical and mental symptoms, including visual hallucinations, delusions, depression, rapid eye sleep movement behavior disorder, and olfactory dysfunction. This study describes another interesting psychiatric symptom, which seems to be characteristic of DLB, in many patients who visited the author's psychogeriatrics department for neurocognitive disorders or psychogeriatric diseases.

Methods: The clinical courses of seven representative cases of DLB, each of which included episodes of this interesting psychiatric symptom, are described to clarify the commonalities they shared.

Two cases of IgG4-related disease accompanied by many cerebral microbleeds and a review of the literature: can IgG4-related disease cause cerebral small vessel vasculitis/vasculopathy?

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a condition of unknown cause, which involves marked tissue infiltration by IgG4-positive plasma cells into various organs throughout the body. Histopathological examinations based on biopsy examinations are essential for obtaining a definitive clinical diagnosis of IgG4-RD. However, there are only a limited number of organs from which biopsy samples can be easily obtained.

A proposal for a new clinical entity: transient epileptic amnesia complex syndrome (TEACS).

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a special type of temporal lobe epilepsy, the main symptom of which is recurrent amnesia attacks. In the late 1990s, Zeman et al. developed the following diagnostic criteria for TEA: (i) recurrent, witnessed episodes of amnesia; (ii) other cognitive functions remain intact during attacks; and (iii) evidence of epilepsy.

Tactile hallucinations in dementia with Lewy bodies.

Background: Visual hallucinations (VH) are one of the most common psychological symptoms of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). It is generally considered that the VH that occur in DLB usually disappear when patients try to touch imaginary objects. However, DLB patients also sometimes experience tactile hallucinations (TH).

Effectiveness of educational program using printed educational material on care burden distress among staff of residential aged care facilities without medical specialists and/or registered nurses: Cluster quasi-randomization study.

Aim: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are an important source of distress for caregivers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of educational intervention using printed educational material for reducing distress induced by behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia among caregivers working at facilities without medical specialists and/or registered nurses.

Methods: A cluster quasi-randomized, controlled comparative trial was carried out at 17 facilities in Japan.

Possible effectiveness of low-dose pregabalin in a patient suffering from Lewy body disease and chronic pruritus.

Many patients with Lewy body disease (LBD) complain of pain, although the detailed mechanism responsible for LBD-related pain remains to be clarified. Moreover, there does not appear to be any reports about LBD patients suffering from an itching sensation. In this report, the case of an LBD patient who experienced severe itching that persisted for over 6 months, which was treated successfully with low-dose pregabalin therapy, is described.

Similarity of symptoms between transient epileptic amnesia and Lewy body disease.

Epilepsy with the main symptom of amnesia is known as transient epileptic amnesia (TEA). Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common form of neurodegenerative dementia. The concept that Lewy body disease includes Parkinson's disease with dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies was proposed in the 2005 revision of the Clinical Diagnostic Criteria.

Effectiveness of low-dose pregabalin in three patients with Lewy body disease and central neuropathic pain.

Many patients with Lewy body disease complain of pain, and their pain may be associated with this disease. Recently, pain has become a focus of attention in Parkinson's disease, but there is little information regarding pain in patients who have dementia with Lewy bodies. We used pregabalin to treat three Lewy body disease patients with chronic pain that may have been related to degeneration of central neurons.

Diffuse neurofibrillary tangles with calcification (Kosaka-Shibayama disease) in Japan.

Diffuse neurofibrillary tangles with calcification (DNTC) is a rare, pre-senile type of dementia. The term 'DNTC' was initially proposed by Kosaka in 1994. Although 26 autopsies and 21 clinical patients with DNTC have been described in Japan to date, DNTC has rarely been reported in the European and North American published work.

Long-term efficacy of donepezil for relapse of visual hallucinations in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies.

Background: The use of cholinesterase inhibitors is recommended for the treatment of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in the guidelines of the DLB Consortium. However, no consensus regarding therapeutic approaches for DLB-related visual hallucinations has been reached. To the best of our knowledge, an appropriate dose of donepezil for the treatment of DLB at each stage has not been discussed.

Effectiveness of low-dose milnacipran for a patient suffering from pain disorder with delusional disorder (somatic type) in the orofacial region.

Glossodynia is chronic pain localized around the tongue, with no perceivable organic abnormalities. In the fields of oral and maxillofacial surgery, it is categorized as an oral psychosomatic disease. In contrast, psychiatric nosology classifies glossodynia as a pain disorder among somatoform disorders, per the DSM-IV.

Total palliative care for a patient with multiple cerebral infarctions that occurred repeatedly in association with gastric cancer (Trousseau's syndrome).

Objective: Malignancy-related thromboembolism, also referred to as Trousseau's syndrome, can present as acute cerebral infarction, nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE), and migratory thrombophlebitis. Therefore, many physical, neurological, and psychological symptoms associated with Trousseau's syndrome may occur in the clinical course.

Method: To illustrate this, we report a case of a male patient in his 50s with carcinomatous peritonitis caused by gastric cancer, with multiple cerebral infractions that developed during disease progression.

A case of dementia with Lewy bodies that temporarily showed symptoms similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

We discuss a case of a 67-year-old male with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) that was initially suspected as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) or another type of encephalopathy, because he showed rapidly progressive deterioration, myoclonus, gait disturbance and a decline in activities of daily living. The present study describes a clinically atypical case with probable DLB and reviews similar cases in the literature, and we propose a rapidly progressive clinical subtype of DLB.

Physical complications for elderly inpatients with senile dementia in the Imaise Branch of Ichinomiya City Hospital.

Background: In the present study, we investigated the physical complications of elderly patients with senile dementia in the Department of Psychogeriatrics, Imaise Branch, Ichinomiya City Hospital.

Methods: Physical complications that occurred in our ward in the 12 months from April 2007 to March 2008 were recorded. Our ward has 50 beds and, over the 12 months, the average occupation rate was approximately 90%.

Distribution of neurofibrillary tangles in diffuse neurofibrillary tangles with calcification.

Aims: In this study, the appearance and distribution of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in diffuse neurofibrillary tangles with calcification (DNTC) were investigated neuropathologically in order to elucidate the detailed distribution pattern in this disease.

Methods: The distribution of NFT in six cases neuropathologically diagnosed as DNTC (two men and four women) was studied using Gallyas-Braak silver stain. The age at death ranged from 56 to 73, with an average of 63.