Longitudinal changes in primary progressive aphasias: differences in cognitive and dementia staging measures.

ABSTRACT

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.