Table 1.
Differential diagnosis of rapidly progressive dementia.
| Etiologic Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Neurodegenerative | Prion disease (e.g., Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) |
| Alzheimer’s disease | |
| Frontotemporal degeneration | |
| Dementia with Lewy bodies | |
| Corticobasal degeneration | |
| Progressive supranuclear palsy | |
| Oncologic | Primary CNS tumor |
| Metastatic tumor | |
| Autoimmune | Hashimoto’s encephalopathy |
| Paraneoplastic syndrome | |
| Lupus cerebritis | |
| Sjögren’s syndrome | |
| Sarcoidosis | |
| Multiple sclerosis | |
| CNS vasculitis | |
| Isolated angiitis of the central nervous system (IACNS) | |
| Anti-VGKC antibodies | |
| Antineurophil antibodies | |
| Cerebral amyloid inflammatory vasculopathy | |
| Polyarteritis nodosa | |
| Celiac disease | |
| Behçet’s disease | |
| Hypereosinophilic disease | |
| Toxicity | Bismuth toxicity |
| Lithium toxicity | |
| Mercury toxicity | |
| Arsenic toxicity | |
| Alcoholic dementia | |
| Metabolic | Vitamin B12 deficiency |
| Vitamin B1 deficiency (e.g., Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome) | |
| Niacin deficiency | |
| Folate deficiency | |
| Uremia | |
| Wilson’s disease | |
| Portosystemic encephalopathy | |
| Acquired hepatocerebral degeneration | |
| Porphyria | |
| Electrolyte abnormalities | |
| Infectious | Iatrogenic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease |
| Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease | |
| AIDS dementia complex | |
| Syphilis | |
| Fungal/viral meningoencephalitis (e.g., aspergillosis, herpes encephalitis) | |
| Whipple’s disease | |
| Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy | |
| Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis | |
| Parasitic infections | |
| Lyme disease | |
| Balamuthia | |
| Vascular | Stroke |
| Biswanger’s disease | |
| Hyperviscosity syndromes | |
| CADASIL | |
| Endocrine | Hypo-/Hyperthyroidism |
| Hypo-/Hyperparathyroidism | |
| Adrenal insufficiency | |
| Psychiatric | Depression |
| Psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) | |
| Conversion disorder | |
| Malingering |
CADASIL: Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.