Longitudinal Changes in Primary Progressive Aphasias: Differences in Cognitive and Dementia Staging Measures

• Published in: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 135 - 141
• Main Authors: Hsieh, S., Hodges, J.R., Leyton, C.E., Mioshi, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Karger 01.09.2012; S. Karger AG
• Subjects: Aged; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer's disease; aphasia; Aphasia, Primary Progressive - diagnosis; Aphasia, Primary Progressive - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive ability; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia; Dementia disorders; Disease Progression; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Female; Frontotemporal dementia; Geriatrics; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Original Research Article; Primary Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia - diagnosis; Primary Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia - physiopathology; Semantics; Primary progressive aphasias; Alzheimer’s disease; Longitudinal assessment; Dementia staging; Cognitive assessment; Rating scale; Nervous system diseases; Cognitive disorder; Alzheimer disease; Primary progressive aphasia; Language disorder; Cerebral disorder; Communication disorder; Central nervous system disease; Aphasia; Degenerative disease; Neurological disorder; Alzheimer's disease
• ISSN: 1420-8008; 1421-9824
• DOI: 10.1159/000342347

Background/Aims: The longitudinal course of three primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants was examined using Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) and the Frontotemporal dementia Rating Scale (FRS). Methods: Cases with two assessments on the ACE-R and FRS were selected. A total of 220 assessments were obtained on 55 patients: 17 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and 38 PPA [17 semantic variant (svPPA), 12 non-fluent/agrammatic (naPPA) and 9 logopenic variant (lvPPA) cases]. Results: The annualized rate of change was greater in all PPA variants in comparison with the AD group on the ACE-R whereas only the svPPA and naPPA groups differed from AD on the FRS. Conclusions: The longitudinal profile differs across PPA syndromes on cognitive and functional measures. Findings have theoretical implications and are relevant to the care of patients with dementia.