| Type of dementia | Diagnostic criteria |
| Alzheimers disease | - Preferred criteria: NINCDS/ADRDA
- Alternatives include ICD-10 and DSM-IV
|
| Vascular dementia | - Preferred criteria: NINDS-AIREN
- Alternatives include ICD-10 and DSM-IV
|
| Dementia with Lewy bodies | - International Consensus criteria for dementia with Lewy bodies
|
| Frontotemporal dementia | - Lund-Manchester criteria
- NINDS criteria for frontotemporal dementia
|
- DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition
- ICD-10: International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision
- NINCDS/ADRDA: National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association
- NINDSAIREN: Neuroepidemiology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokeAssociation Internationale pour la Recherche et l’Enseignement en Neurosciences
|
Definite diagnoses require histopathology acquired from autopsy or biopsy.
Probable and possible diagnoses can be made using the various clinical criteria.
Many patients will have a mixed dementia with features suggestive of several subtypes. They should be treated according to the most predominant type.
