Initial neuropsychological profile of a series of 20 patients with logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia.
2013
Background: Logopenic variant of
primary progressive aphasia(LPPA) is classically considered as an
isolated languagedisorder, but verbal short-term memory deficit induces difficulties in
neuropsychological teststhat are not intended to evaluate language. Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the initial symptoms and
neuropsychologicalprofiles of LPPA. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted with a series of 20 consecutive patients diagnosed with LPPA. Clinical, neuroimaging,
neuropsychological, and linguistic examinations are reported. The first
neuropsychologicalexaminations (mean time between
neuropsychological assessmentand diagnosis: 11 months) were then compared to 20 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 20 patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) matched by age,
gender, and
educationlevel. Results: A recent onset or aggravation of anxiety disorders was frequently reported. An unusual
neuropsychologicalprofile, different from that of AD or MCI, was observed: dissociation between verbal and
visual memoryperformances, poor encoding performances on
verbal memorytests, and preserved orientation to time, difficulties with
mental calculationand fluency tasks. Biparetal abnormality and left hippocampal
diaschisiswas frequently observed. Asymptomatic dopaminergic depletion was observed in four patients. Conclusion: Our study identifies that de novo or recently worsening anxiety and specific
neuropsychologicalprofiles call for screening for LPPA, including a linguistic examination. Sometimes, there may be a continuum between LPPA and corticobasal syndrome.
Keywords:
-
Correction
-
Source
-
Cite
-
Save
45
References
25
Citations
NaN
KQI