Causes of organic dementia: a necropsy survey of 60 cases

The neuropathological findings in all demented patients who were necropsied at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital during a 10-year period were reviewed. Of a total of 60 cases, 44 (73.3%) had the typical changes of Alzheimer's disease, while a variety of other conditions accounted for the remaining 16 cases--neoplasms (four patients); lacunar disease (four patients); viral infections (three patients: herpes simplex in two and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in one); non-specific brain atrophy (two patients); and single cases of Huntington's chorea, subdural haematomas and methotrexate-induced leucoencephalopathy. Associated cerebral pathologies were found in 17 (38.6%) of the cases of Alzheimer's disease and included vascular lesions (eight cases), subdural haematomas (six cases) and Wernicke's encephalopathy (two cases).