[Catatonia and dementia: a case series].

Catatonia is a syndrome combining a variety of psychomotor and behavioral symptoms. It is underdiagnosed in the elderly and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the links between catatonia and dementia. We propose a "real-life" case series of five patients with dementia and catatonia, in order to explore the links between catatonia and dementia. Major depression was strongly associated with catatonia in our cases (4/5) and two patients had bipolar disorder. Iatrogenicity was linked to catatonia in three patients, particularly with antipsychotics. Two patients had dementia with Lewy bodies and one was suspected with frontotemporal degeneration. These are the two dementia most frequently associated with catatonia. Catatonia had been mistaken for confusional syndrome in one of our patients. It is important to look for it and treat it in this context.