Background: Capgras syndrome is a special psychotic feature of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease (AD). It is the most common disorder among 4 primary delusional misidentification syndromes in AD. However, there\u2019s not been that much research done into this syndrome in Vietnam. Objectives: To describe the clinical appearances of Capgras syndrome and its effect on the severity and progress of AD. Subjects: 35 patients with diagnoses of AD according to DSM-4 criteria, treated at the National Institute of Mental Health, National Psychiatric Hospital and Hanoi Psychiatric Hospital over a period of 5 years (1997-2002). They were divided into 2 groups with and without Capgras syndrome. Method: Descriptive, prospective and longitudinal study. This was small size clinical study, so p\u2013value was used to compare 2 groups of patients. Results: Of the 35 AD patients, 8 patients (22.8%) had Capgras syndrome. Capgras syndrome was seen more frequently in women (6/8 patients) at the late episode of the disease. Its features were similar to descriptions by journals on the subject, 5 out of 8 patients had delusions. Disability on daily life and psychotic, conductive, affective disorders were seen more frequent and severe on patients with Capgras syndrome. Paraclinical findings showed that in patients with Capgras syndrome, the lesions were more predominant in the right hemisphere. Conclusion: Capgras syndrome was usually accompanied with behavioral, affective disorders. Especially, it increases cognitive impairment of patients. Further studies on the relationships between Capgras syndrome and special lesions in the brain are required.
Alzheimer\u2019s disease ; Capgras syndrome

Background: Dementia is a common pathological condition that affects older people. Most causes of dementia are Alzheimer\u2019s disease and vascular dementia. Diagnosing these conditions mostly relied on clinical patterns, but some biomarkers have been mentioned as the indicators of this condition. Objectives: 1) To evaluate the alteration of some biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from Alzheimer\u2019s patients. 2) To compare the concentration of biomarkers in CSF samples from patients with vascular dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Subjects and method: Case group involved 41 patients who were diagnosed as AD and vascular dementia based on DSM-IV criteria. 31 matched healthy people were included in control group. All subjects were given neuro-psychological tests and thorough clinical examination. Brain CT scan and MRI were done for both groups. CSF samples were taken from patients in the study group to measure levels of some biomarkers. Results. The levels of total taurine (T-tau) and phosphorylated taurine (P-tau) 181 proteins are higher in the dementia group. The concentration of Abeta-42 is significantly different between case and control groups, but similar between vascular dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease patients. Conclusion: Changes in biomarkers are valuable in different diagnosis of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and other types of dementia. However, findings of CSF studies have to be considered with findings from imaging studies and clinical examination.
Biomarker ; Dementia ; Alzheimer\u2019s disease