TY - JOUR
T1 - The evolution of alexia in two cases of posterior cortical atrophy
AU - Catricalà, Eleonora
AU - Della Rosa, Pasquale A.
AU - Ortelli, Paola
AU - Ginex, Valeria
AU - Marcone, Alessandra
AU - Perani, Daniela
AU - Cappa, Stefano F.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is an uncommon presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterised by prevalent anatomo-functional involvement of posterior cortical areas. Accordingly, the main clinical features at onset are disorders of high-order visual processing, such as alexia and impairments of visuo-spatial and visuo-constructional abilities. The clinical features in the early stages of disease are variable, and they have been suggested to stem from prevalent ventral or dorsal brain pathology, and/or asymmetric hemispheric involvement. With disease progression, these differences tend to blur with the increasing severity of neuropsychological dysfunction. We report two PCA patients showing different patterns of reading impairment (respectively, letter-by-letter reading and neglect dyslexia). A follow-up study suggested that the qualitative features of alexia remain distinctive with disease evolution. In addition, single photon emission tomography (SPECT) studies revealed different patterns of hypoperfusion, consistent with the alexia types. A careful reading assessment can provide important insights to the pattern of progression of the disease in patients with PCA up to the late stages of the pathology.
AB - Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is an uncommon presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterised by prevalent anatomo-functional involvement of posterior cortical areas. Accordingly, the main clinical features at onset are disorders of high-order visual processing, such as alexia and impairments of visuo-spatial and visuo-constructional abilities. The clinical features in the early stages of disease are variable, and they have been suggested to stem from prevalent ventral or dorsal brain pathology, and/or asymmetric hemispheric involvement. With disease progression, these differences tend to blur with the increasing severity of neuropsychological dysfunction. We report two PCA patients showing different patterns of reading impairment (respectively, letter-by-letter reading and neglect dyslexia). A follow-up study suggested that the qualitative features of alexia remain distinctive with disease evolution. In addition, single photon emission tomography (SPECT) studies revealed different patterns of hypoperfusion, consistent with the alexia types. A careful reading assessment can provide important insights to the pattern of progression of the disease in patients with PCA up to the late stages of the pathology.
KW - Alexia
KW - dorsal
KW - Posterior Cortical Atrophy
KW - ventral
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U2 - 10.3233/BEN-2011-0334
DO - 10.3233/BEN-2011-0334
M3 - Article
C2 - 21876262
AN - SCOPUS:80052619395
VL - 24
SP - 229
EP - 236
JO - Behavioural Neurology
JF - Behavioural Neurology
SN - 0953-4180
IS - 3
ER -