Sudden Death: An Uncommon Occurrence in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Journal of Parkinson's Disease
Joery P MolenaarBastiaan R Bloem

Abstract

We present a 75-year-old woman with dementia and parkinsonism who developed severe orthostatic hypotension and eventually died. Autopsy revealed extensive Lewy body formation in the midbrain, limbic system, intermediate spinal cord, and medulla oblongata. Furthermore, a vast amount of Lewy bodies was seen in the paravertebral sympathetic ganglia which likely explained the severe autonomic failure. We speculate that this autonomic failure caused sudden death through dysregulation of respiration or heart rhythm, reminiscent of sudden death in multiple system atrophy (MSA). Clinicians should be aware of this complication in patients presenting with parkinsonism and autonomic dysfunction, and that sudden death may occur in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) as it does in MSA.

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Citations

Oct 11, 2016·Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova·A Sh Chimagomedova, O S Levin
Oct 23, 2020·Psychogeriatrics : the Official Journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society·Rie OmoyaTakashi Takeuchi
Jul 27, 2021·Movement Disorders Clinical Practice·Malco RossiMarcelo Merello

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