Distinguishing Subtypes in Primary Progressive Aphasia: Application of the Sydney Language Battery

• Published in: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders Vol. 35; no. 3-4; pp. 208 - 218
• Main Authors: Savage, Sharon, Hsieh, Sharpley, Leslie, Felicity, Foxe, David, Piguet, Olivier, Hodges, John R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Karger 01.01.2013; S. Karger AG
• Subjects: Aged; Analysis of Variance; Aphasia, Primary Progressive - classification; Aphasia, Primary Progressive - diagnosis; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Female; Humans; Language; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Original Research Article; Reproducibility of Results; Tumors of the nervous system. Phacomatoses; Word repetition; Primary progressive aphasia; Clinical diagnosis; Naming; Semantic knowledge; Cognitive assessment; Nervous system diseases; Word; Cognitive disorder; Language disorder; Cerebral disorder; Communication disorder; Language; Semantics; Central nervous system disease; Aphasia; Degenerative disease; Diagnosis; Neurological disorder; Dementia
• ISSN: 1420-8008; 1421-9824
• DOI: 10.1159/000346389

Background/Aims: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) comprises three main subtypes, varying in clinical features, patterns of brain atrophy, and underlying pathology. Differentiation of these variants is important for treatment and planning; however, simple, effective cognitive tests to aid diagnosis are lacking. This study introduces a new language battery - the SYDBAT (Sydney Language Battery) - to assist clinicians. Methods: Fifty-seven PPA patients and 54 age- and education-matched healthy controls were compared on naming, repetition, word comprehension, and semantic association subtests. Results: Significant group differences were found for all tasks, reflecting different language profiles for each group. Using discriminative function analysis, 80% of PPA cases were correctly classified from three SYDBAT scores, from which a simple diagnostic algorithm was defined. Conclusion: The SYDBAT is a fast and simple tool which provides a valuable adjunct to clinicians diagnosing PPA.