Background:
Neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques have been observed in the amygdala in Alzheimer disease. A disproportionate abundance of this abnormality in the amygdala may cause behavioral symptoms similar to Klüver-Bucy syndrome.
Objectives:
To describe an atypical behavioral presentation of Alzheimer disease and to review the literature on the subject.
Design:
Case study.
Setting:
Outpatient specialty clinic.
Patient:
A 70-year-old man with progressive behavioral symptoms of hyperorality, hypersexuality, hypermetamorphosis, visual agnosia, hyperphagia, and apathy who died at age 77 of asphyxiation on a foreign object.
Main outcome measures:
Clinical symptomatology, brain imaging, and neuropathology.
Results:
The pathologic diagnosis was Alzheimer disease with abundant tangles and plaques in the lateral amygdala.
Conclusions:
This case represents a variant of Alzheimer disease with prominent amygdala abnormalities and a Klüver-Bucy phenotype that was misdiagnosed as frontotemporal dementia. Clinical and imaging findings that may aid in accurate diagnosis are reviewed.