Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are major components of Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, we aimed at investigating the prevalence and severity of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in very mild to mild Alzheimer’s disease. Forty-four patients with Alzheimer’s disease who visited the neurology outpatient clinic of Seoul Medical Center were included. A trained neurologist or a supervised test technician administered the neuropsychological test, the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery including Mini Mental State Examination and Clinical Dementia Rating. The instrument used for assessing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia was Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire. In order of prevalence, apathy, depression, irritability, anxiety, and agitation were the most common symptoms occurring in very mild-to-mild Alzheimer’s disease group. The prevalence and severity of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia were found to be in positive correlation with the Clinical Dementia Rating scores. Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are found even in the very early stage of Alzheimer’s disease, apathy and depression being the most common symptoms. Physicians should be aware of this when managing dementia patients.

Bilateral calcifications of the basal ganglia, the thalami, the dentate nuclei of the cerebellum, and the white matter of the cerebral hemisphere characterize Fahr's disease. The common clinical manifestations of the disease are movement disorders accompanied by cognitive impairment and mood disorder. Herein we report a case of Fahr's disease with atypical clinical manifestations. The patient was a 48 year-old man who presented with behavioral changes. His neurological examination showed no focal neurological deficits except for frontal dysfunctions. Abnormal involuntary movement was absent. Neuroimaging work-ups were compatible with Fahr's disease.
Basal Ganglia ; Cerebellum ; Cerebrum ; Dyskinesias ; Frontal Lobe* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mood Disorders ; Movement Disorders ; Neuroimaging ; Neurologic Examination

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to analyze the change in the obesity index in girls receiving a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa), based on treatment duration, and to aid in nutritional counseling by investigating dietary habits and lifestyle. METHODS: Anthropometric examinations were conducted on 62 girls treated with GnRHa from January 2010 through July 2014. Parents were asked to fill out questionnaires on patient dietary habits and lifestyle. RESULTS: The group taking GnRHa for over 1 year had a higher rate of obesity increase than the group taking GnRHa for less than 1 year, but they had common habits related to obesity, which should be corrected. In addition, 69.2% of the normal weight group taking GnRHa for over 1 year gained weight, and needed more intensive programs, which include physical exercise and nutritional education. Although girls with precocious puberty showed a decrease in the intake of high-calorie foods with nutritional intervention regardless of treatment duration, they still had problems that needed improvement, such as shorter meals and lack of exercise. CONCLUSION: Girls with precocious puberty and their parents should emphasize maintenance of proper body weight, especially when treatment for over 1 year is anticipated. Consistent education in nutrition, ways to increase intensity and duration of physical activity, and the need to slow down mealtimes are important in managing obesity; doctors need to perform regular checkups and provide nutritional counseling.
Body Weight ; Counseling ; Education ; Exercise ; Female* ; Food Habits* ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Humans ; Life Style* ; Meals ; Motor Activity ; Obesity ; Parents ; Puberty, Precocious*

Lumbar puncture is a simple bedside procedure that is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of several neurologic diseases. Known complications include headache, backache, infection, and hemorrhage, with the most common being postpuncture headache. We report a case of postpuncture spinal subdural hematoma-which is extremely rare-in a 29-year-old female. Although most cases of postpuncture spinal hematomas are associated with coagulation abnormalities, this case shows that it can occur in the absence of predisposing factors.
Back Pain ; Female ; Headache ; Hematoma ; Hematoma, Subdural, Spinal ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Spinal Puncture

No abstract available.
Abdominal Wall ; Herpes Zoster

OBJECTIVE: We studied the effects of the age factor in pregnant women who are over the age of 35 on pregnancy, parturition and verified its usefulness in the future managements of the old aged pregnancy. METHODS: Out of 2,526 mothers who delivered in Dongguk university hospital from April 2000 to June 2003, we selected 183 mothers who aged more than 35 years as a study group, and 150 mothers aged between 25 and 29 years as a control group. We then statistically evaluated and analyzed the two groups. RESULTS: Study group consumed up to 7.24%. Placenta previa, male birth delivery, abnormal presentation, low birth weight, iron deficiency anemia and preterm labor was noted more in the study group. Likewise, preterm delivery, pregnancy induced hypertension and cesarean section rates were significantly high in the study group. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy in old age is currently a rising trend. Whlie they might have the tendency to show prenatal complications, neonatal complication and difficult decision making in delivery method, early detection and treatment of presumable complications by adequate antenatal care and appropriate selection of delivery method can reduce the section rates and obtain relatively successful pregnancy outcome.
Age Factors ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; Cesarean Section ; Decision Making ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mothers ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Parturition ; Placenta Previa ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women*

BACKGROUND: With the ageing population, number of dementia patients is on the rise, as well as the public interest. The population who would visit memory disorder clinic will also grow. The diagnostic significance of brain MRI in dementia lies in idetifying hippocampal atrophy or ischemic lesions. However, patients visiting memory disorder clinic are mostly old-aged with multiple vascular risk factors, raising the risk of cerebrovascular abnormalities. The authors set out to evaluate the need for cerebrevascular imaging in patients who visited memory disorder clinic. METHODS: The study recruited patients who visited the memory clinic in Seoul medical center between July 2011 and June 2012. Among those, patients who had taken the neuropsychiatric test and had both brain MRI and MRA taken were included for analysis. In brain MRI, severities of white matter hyperintensities and presence of cerebral infarction were assessed. In brain MRA, intra- and extra-cranial arterial stenosis and presence of aneurysm were noted. RESULTS: A total of 173 patients was included, and 64 were men. The mean age was 71+/-9.4 years, and the mean education period was 7+/-5.2 years. In brain MRI, white matter hyperintensities were observed in 113 patients (65.3%), and cerebral infarction was present in 57 patients (32.9%). In brain MRA, 88 (50.9%) patients showed more than one stenotic segment in intracranial vessel or proximal ICA and 6 patients (3.5%) were diagnosed with unruptured aneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of white matter hyperintensities or stenosis of cerebral vessels on magnetic resonance imaging is very high. Therefore, brain MRI and MRA should be included in diagnostic work up for dementia in patients who are old aged and have multiple vascular risk factors. It would provide clinicians with valuable information in making treatment decisions and prevention of future cerebrovascular accident.
Aged ; Aneurysm ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Cerebral Infarction ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dementia ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Incidence ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Memory ; Memory Disorders ; Risk Factors ; Stroke

Syncopes are the most common non-epileptic attacks mimicking epileptic seizures. Among them, cardiogenic syncope is potentially life threatening. A 49 year old man was refered for the recurrent episodes of loss of consciousness with tonic posture and upward eyes deviation. The electrocardiogram showed polymorphologic ventricular tachycardia during attacks, which normalized after that. He was treated with isoproterenol and symptoms subsided. Here, we report a case of ventricular tachycardia manifested as epileptic seizures.
Electrocardiography ; Epilepsy* ; Isoproterenol ; Posture ; Seizures ; Syncope ; Tachycardia, Ventricular* ; Unconsciousness

BACKGROUND: The effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cerebral vessels have not been clarified until now. Thus we investigated the efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs supplementation on cerebral blood flow velocity and vascular resistance via transcranial doppler (TCD). METHODS: Consecutive twenty patients (13 male and 7 female) with at least 1 cerebrovascular risk factor or a known cerebrovascular disease were enrolled. Patients were treated with omega-3 PUFAs (1 g, two times per day) for 12 weeks. Cerebral blood flow velocity, resistance index, and pulsatile index were checked before and after 12 weeks of treatment using TCD. RESULTS: The change of resistance index in right MCA (from 0.58 +/- 0.07 to 0.55 +/- 0.07, p = 0.042) and left PCA (from 0.56 +/- 0.07 to 0.53 +/- 0.06, p = 0.037) showed significant improvement after 12 weeks of omega-3 PUFAs treatment. The changes in other vessels, however, failed to show any significant changes compared to the baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Omega-3 PUFAs treatment showed feasible efficacies for cerebral vascular resistances in this open label trial. To confirm these results, larger samples of patients and longer period of follow-up is warranted.
Blood Flow Velocity ; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Risk Factors ; Vascular Resistance*