Alzheimer's disease camouflaged by histrionic personality disorder.

A common condition in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unawareness of deficits. Different concepts try to elucidate the nature of this symptom. An essential question relates to the interaction of organic and psychogenic factors. Here we present a patient who displayed her cognitive deficits as attention-seeking behaviour. There was a history of histrionic personality disorder according to ICD-10 criteria. Unexpectedly, the final diagnosis after extensive diagnostic work-up was AD. The unusual coincidence of AD and a histrionic personality disorder hampered the clinical process of diagnosing dementia. We discuss unawareness as a complex concept incorporating neuroanatomical, psychiatric, and psychosocial aspects.