Varieties of progressive non-fluent aphasia.

Abstract

We report four patients with progressive aphasia of the non-fluent type as the presenting clinical manifestation. The patients were included in a longitudinal study of focal progressive neuropsychological syndromes, and were periodically submitted to neuropsychological evaluations and neuroimaging studies (TC, MRI, SPET or PET). The pattern of neuropsychological impairment was in good agreement with the results of functional imaging studies, which indicated involvement of the anterior regions of the left hemisphere. The evolution of the clinical picture was extremely heterogeneous in the four patients, ranging from a relatively stable picture of transcortical motor aphasia to a severe progressive frontal lobe syndrome. Progressive non-fluent aphasia appears to be a reliable clinical marker of the localization of the pathological process; whether this is related to specific neuropathological conditions, such as Pick's disease, remains for the moment a matter of speculation.

• Authors: S F Cappa, D Perani, C Messa, A Miozzo, F Fazio
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (Ann N Y Acad Sci) Vol. 777 Pg. 243-8 (Jan 17 1996) ISSN: 0077-8923 [Print] United States
• PMID: 8624092 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aphasia, Broca (classification, diagnosis, psychology)
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Disease Progression
• Female
• Humans
• Language Tests
• Longitudinal Studies
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neuropsychological Tests
• Tomography, Emission-Computed