Nasal chemosensory tests: biomarker between dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson disease dementia.

BACKGROUND: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) are progressive and disabling neurodegenerative disorders, which are often misdiagnosed due to theirs overlapping clinical and paraclinical features. Nevertheless, their adequate management requires an accurate differential diagnosis. The main aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of olfactory and trigeminal nasal testing for the differential diagnosis between DLB and PDD. METHODS: Odor thresholds to three odorants differentially activating the olfactory and trigeminal systems were assessed in patients with DLB, PDD and healthy controls (n = 20 per group). RESULTS: Odor thresholds were significant…