Abstract
Background/AimsHashimoto's encephalopathy is considered as a treatable dementia, but it is often misdiagnosed. We investigated cognitive impairment and the MRI pathology of Hashimoto's encephalopathy patients.MethodsThe study comprised eight patients with Hashimoto's encephalopathy, 16 patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease and 24 healthy subjects. A neuropsychological battery included assessments of memory, language, attention, executive function and visuospatial ability. Cranial MRI was obtained from all Hashimoto's encephalopathy patients.ResultsHashimoto's encephalopathy and mild Alzheimer’s disease showed cognitive impairments in episodic memory, attention, executive function and visuospatial ability, but naming ability was unaffected in Hashimoto's encephalopathy. The MRI of Hashimoto's encephalopathy showed leukoencephalopathy-like type or limbic encephalitis-like type; the lesions did not affect the temporal cortex which plays a role in naming ability.ConclusionExcept that the naming ability was retained, the impairments in cognitive functions for the Hashimoto's encephalopathy patients were similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease patients. These results were consistent with the MRI findings.
Highlights
Hashimoto’s encephalopathy (HE) is a rare, controversial neurological disorder associated with high titers of antithyroid antibodies [1,2]
This study aims to analyze the cognitive impairment characteristics of HE by comparing HE patients with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and a normal control group
The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of HE patients is retrospectively analyzed to investigate the pathological status of HE
Summary
Hashimoto’s encephalopathy (HE) is a rare, controversial neurological disorder associated with high titers of antithyroid antibodies [1,2]. Patients are mostly women [2]. HE is a steroid-responsive, relapsing–remitting and progressive encephalopathy. Cognitive impairment is commonly described in cases of HE, the exact nature of the impairment and the associated neuroimaging pathology remain unclear. An investigation of the cognitive symptoms and homologous neuroimaging manifestations of HE will contribute to the differential diagnosis of dementia. As the diagnosis criteria of HE is controversial, such research would help to confirm the diagnosis of HE, and contribute to the assessment of responses to treatment [6]. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of HE patients is retrospectively analyzed to investigate the pathological status of HE
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