Visual Hallucinations and Amyloid Deposition in Parkinson's Disease Dementia: A Case Report

• Published in: Psychiatry investigation Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 364 - 369
• Main Authors: Um, Yoo Hyun, Kim, Tae-Won, Jeong, Jong-Hyun, Seo, Ho-Jun, Han, Jin-Hee, Hong, Seung-Chul, Jung, Won-Sang, Choi, Woo Hee, Lee, Chang-Uk, Lim, Hyun Kook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 01.05.2016; 대한신경정신의학회
• Subjects: Case Report; 정신과학; Cognitive decline; Parkinson's disease; Amyloid imaging; Dementia
• ISSN: 1738-3684; 1976-3026
• DOI: 10.4306/pi.2016.13.3.364

Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) is notorious for its debilitating clinical course and high mortality rates. Consequently, various attempts to investigate predictors of cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease (PD) have been made. Here we report a case of a 75-year-old female patient with PD who visited the clinic with complaints of recurrent visual hallucinations and cognitive decline, whose symptoms were ameliorated by the titration of rivastigmine. Imaging results showed pronounced diffuse cortical amyloid deposition evidenced by 18F-florbetaben amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. This observation suggests that pronounced amyloid deposition and visual hallucinations in PD patients could be clinically significant predictors of cognitive decline in PD patients. Future research should concentrate on accumulating more evidence for possible predictors of cognitive decline and their association with PD pathology that can enable an early intervention and standardized treatment in PDD patients.