Dementia Due to Head Trauma: An obscure name for a clear neurocognitive syndrome

Article type: Research Article

Authors: León-Carrión, José

Affiliations: Human Neuropsychology Laboratory, Dept. of Experimental Psychology, University of Seville, San Francisco Javier s/n, 41005 Seville, Spain. Tel.: +34 954 55 76 88; Fax: +34 954 57 03 45; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper questions the DSM IV TR criteria for Dementia Due to Head Trauma (DDHT). We studied 20 consecutive traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and checked them for this criteria. We found the diagnosis criteria to be oversensitive and lacking in specificity, consequently raising the possibility for all subjects who have sustained severe TBI to be diagnosed with dementia. A careful analysis of data and literature showed that nearly half of these patients were able to return to work after undergoing an intensive and holistic rehabilitation program, indicating a reversal of the “dementia”. Severe head injury produces a set of multiple cognitive deficits that shouldn't be considered dementia. The term “Severe Neurocognitive Disorder” is suggested for use instead of DDHT for the cognitive deterioration of severe TBI patients.

Keywords: dementia, brain injury, post-concussional disorder, neurobehavioral disorder, neuropsychiatric disorder, neuropsychological assessment

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2002-17204

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 115-122, 2002