Young onset dementia

Abstract

Background: Due to the demographic change dementia is a common and dramatically increasing reason for medical presentations. In approximately 8% of cases dementia occurs before the age of 65 years. The psychosocial and economic consequences are often severe, particularly in younger patients. Clinicians face major diagnostic challenges. A rapid diagnosis is crucial for patient counselling and management. Objective: This review article presents the special features of dementia in younger people, the most important underlying diseases and a rational clinical diagnostic approach. Methods: Narrative review. The literature search was carried out in PubMed. Results: The differential diagnostic spectrum of dementia in younger people under the age of 65 years is very broad. The most common causes are Alzheimer’s disease with typical or atypical clinical presentations and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The younger the age of onset, the higher the proportion of treatable and potentially reversible causes of dementia. Conclusion: The diagnostics of primary neurodegenerative diseases have continuously improved, especially due to the availability of an increasing number of clinical, molecular and imaging biomarkers. Nevertheless, in order to avoid unnecessary and burdensome examinations, the diagnostic work-up of young onset dementia must be hypothesis-driven, i.e. following a precise clinical syndromic classification of the symptoms.