Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36294804›Full record

ArticleJournal of personalized medicine2022

Depressive Pseudodementia with Reversible AD-like Brain Hypometabolism: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature.

Federico Emanuele Pozzi, Daniele Licciardo, Monica Musarra, Lorenzo Jonghi-Lavarini, Cinzia Crivellaro, Gianpaolo Basso, Ildebrando Appollonio, Carlo Ferrarese

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of personalized medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Development and Validation of the DA3 Scale for Assessing Depression, Anxiety, and Apathy in Older Adults.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Federico Emanuele PozziNeurology Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Daniele LicciardoNeuropsychology Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Monica MusarraNuclear Medicine Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Lorenzo Jonghi-LavariniNuclear Medicine Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Cinzia CrivellaroNuclear Medicine Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Gianpaolo BassoNeuroradiology Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6245-9402
Ildebrando AppollonioNeurology Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4717-6479
Carlo FerrareseNeurology Department, San Gerardo Hospital, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Azienda Ospedaliera San Gerardo · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recent European guidelines recommend using brain FDG-PET to differentiate between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and depressive pseudodementia (DP), with specific hypometabolism patterns across the former group, and typically normal or frontal hypometabolism in the latter. We report the case of a 74 years-old man with DP (MMSE 16/30), whose FDG-PET visual rating and semiquantitative analysis closely mimicked the typical AD pattern, showing severe hypometabolism in bilateral precuneus, parietal and temporal lobes, and sparing frontal areas, suggesting the diagnosis of moderate AD. Shortly after starting antidepressant polytherapy, he underwent formal NPS testing, which revealed moderate impairment of episodic memory and mild impairment on executive and visuospatial tests, judged consistent with neurodegenerative dementia and concomitant depression. Over the following two years, he improved dramatically: repeated NPS assessment did not show significant deficits, and FDG-PET showed restoration of cerebral metabolism. The confirmation of PET findings via semiquantitative analysis, and their reversion to normality with antidepressant treatment, proved the non-neurodegenerative origin of the initial AD-like FDG-PET abnormalities. We review similar cases and provide a comprehensive analysis of their implications, concluding that reversible FDG-PET widespread hypometabolism might represent a biomarker of pseudodementia. Therefore, we suggest caution when interpreting FDG-PET scans of depressed patients with cognitive impairment.

Indexed as

Alzheimer’s diseasecase reportdepressionFDG-PETpseudodementiareversible hypometabolism

Identifiers

PMID36294804
PMCPMC9605211
OpenAlexW4303833051

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.