The Characteristics of Capgras Syndrome in Patients Diagnosed as Probable Alzheimer Disease

Abstract

Objective: We assessed the characteristics of Capgras syndrome in patients diagnosed as probable Alzheimer disease, and com-pared the clinical and imaging findings with other previous reports.Methods: We obtained medical records of patients with Capgras syndrome diagnosed as probable Alzheimer disease in three hos-pitals from March 2009 to March 2010. The basic characteristics, neuropsychologic tests, brain imaging data were investigated.Results: The mean age of the patients was 74.7 years old and all of the patients experienced this syndrome in relation to a spouse. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed mild-to-moderate global atrophy, variable hippocampal atrophy in this study. The Mini-Mental State Examination mean scores were 18.78 and clinical dementia rating scores were from 1 to 2. All of the patients took medi-cine of acetycholine esterase inhibitors and two patients recovered with antipsychotic medication. Five patients had showed con-tinuous Capgras syndrome, at the last follow-up day, for a year.Conclusion: Capgras syndrome patients in this study who were diagnosed as probable Alzheimer disease showed similar results to the individuals from other reports. More study is needed to estimate the numbers and characteristics of patients with this syndrome. Keywords: Capgras syndrome; Dementia; Alzheimer disease