Cognitive and Clinical Profile of Prodromal Dementia with Lewy bodies
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A comparison of the cognitive and clinical profiles of prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies and prodromal Alzheimer’s disease.
IRAS ID
181672
Contact name
Zuzana Walker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Individuals who are diagnosed with MCI exhibit cognitive decline greater than expected for their age but not severe enough for a formal diagnosis of dementia. Nonetheless, MCI is a strong predictor of dementia as 46% of MCI patients convert to dementia within three years of receiving a diagnosis compared to 3% of the general population. The current study aims to investigate whether the neuropsychological, clinical and neuroimaging profiles of individuals who have MCI can determine the type of dementia that they will go on to develop, namely AD or DLB.
Using a retrospective, longitudinal approach, this study will use already existing and effectively anonymised data of MCI patients who visited the WENC between 1995-2015. In order to examine whether the neuropsychological and neuroimaging profiles of MCI cases that progressed to DLB differ from those that progressed to AD, patient's performance on a number of neurocognitive tests will be compared, including: The CAMCOG-R, MMSE, LMT, TMT, word recall, letter fluency, and naming. In order to examine whether the clinical and neuroimaging profiles of MCI cases that progressed to DLB differ from those that progressed to AD, data from physical and other examinations will be used (e.g. UPDRS, MSQ) as well as ratings from structural brain scans (CT/MRI).
As DLB is heavily under-diagnosed with the most common mis-diagnosis being AD, findings from this study will have important clinical implications as it may help clinicians differentiate between AD and DLB at the prodromal dementia (i.e. MCI) stage and therefore enable more effective treatment planning. Indeed, treatment at the MCI stage is a clinical priority as it may delay or possibly prevent progression to full dementia.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1752
Date of REC Opinion
5 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion