A practical approach to patient with Young-onset dementia

RAD 547. Medical Sciences 54-55 (2021) : 86-92 www.rad-med.com 86 June 2021 Vol 547 = 54-55 Abstract: “Young-onset dementia” (YOD) includes clinical presentations of dementia with the onset before age of 65. There are several important clinical differences between much more frequent late onset dementia (LOD) and YOD syndromes. First, YOD has much wider range of different aetiologies comparing to LOD. Among all possible aetiologies, treatable/potentially reversible causes are much more common in YOD then in LOD. There is also significantly higher prevalence of inherited dementias in younger age-groups. Furthermore, atypical cognitive (non-amnestic) presentations of common degenerative dementias (e. g. Alzheimer’s disease) are more frequent in YOD. Therefore, routine cognitive evaluation using standard screening tests (e.g. MMSE) may be insufficient. YOD is more often accompanied by neurological and systemic features (dementia plus syndromes) and the identification of these features can aid the diagnosis. Based on these specificities of YOD, diagnostic approach is always challenging. Therefore, a thorough neurocognitive assessment and a structured and rational diagnostic approach is mandatory to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.