[A 73-year-old woman with depression, dementia, and parkinsonism].
We report a 73-year-old woman who had depression, dementia, and parkinsonism. She had postural tremor since her fortics. She was losing her weight since age 66 years. She noted difficulty in walk at age 72 (2001). She could not stand without assistance on July 2001, and she became hypobulic. On admission to our hospital on November 2001, she had dementia and revised Hasegawa dementia scale (HDS-R) was 8/30. She had mild limitation of the upward gaze, and rigidity in the neck, but not in the limbs. Postural tremor was seen. No muscle weakness was noted and tendon reflexes were normal. She was treated with levodopa/carvidopa, but she did not improve. She did not eat much. She was transferred to another hospital and she suddenly died on January 2002. The patient was discussed in a neurological CPC, and a chief discussant arrived at a conclusion that the patient had Parkinson disease with dementia. Some participants thought the diagnosis was progressive supranuclear palsy or diffuse Lewy body disease. The examination at autopsy revealed mild neuronal loss and Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra. Many Lewy bodies were observed in the cerebral cortex which corresponded to the neocortical type of DLB, and Lewy neurites were seen in the CA2 of the hippocampus by immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein. Spongy change was seen in the parahippocampus. Pathological diagnosis was diffuse Lewy body disease.