Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers as a Diagnostic Tool of the Underlying Pathology of Primary Progressive Aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) may present with three main clinical variants, namely nonfluent agrammatic (nfaPPA), semantic (sPPA), and logopenic (lPPA) subtypes. Frontotemporal lobar degenerations (FTLD) or Alzheimer's disease (AD) are the most common etiologies. OBJECTIVE: To study the potential of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for identifying the underlying pathology in patients with PPA. METHODS: CSF levels of total tau protein (τT), amyloid-ß peptide (Aß42), and tau phosphorylated at threonine-181 (τP - 181) were measured by double sandwich, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 43 patients with PPA, 26 patients with AD, and 17 healthy controls. RESULTS: All patients could be classified as compatible with the AD or non-AD biomarker profile, either with the three biomarkers (90.7%) or their ratios, especially the τP - 181/Aß42 ratio (9.3%). An AD-compatible biomarker profile was present in 39.5% of all PPA patients, specifically 22.2%, 35.7%, and 75% of nfaPPA, sPPA, and lPPA, respectively. In PPA patients with a non-AD profile (presumably FTLD), two different clusters could be identified according to the τP - 181/τT ratio, possibly corresponding to the two major FTLD pathologies (tau and TDP-43). CONCLUSION: CSF biomarkers may be a valuable tool for the discrimination between PPA patients with AD and non-AD pathophysiology and possibly between FTLD patients with tau and TDP-43 pathology.

A patient with pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration and supranuclear gaze palsy.

Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) is a genetic disease with childhood onset characterized clinically by dystonia, parkinsonism, pyramidal signs, visual failure and mental retardation. Progression is usually relentless culminating in severe disability and death within 15 years of onset. Eye movement abnormalities have been described in patients with PKAN including slowed vertical saccades and saccadic vertical pursuit. We here report a patient with PKAN and supranuclear gaze palsy broadening the phenotypic spectrum of the disease.

Homonymous hemianopsia as the leading symptom of a tumor like demyelinating lesion: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Differential diagnosis of a cerebral lesion can prove to be a very challenging task for the treating physician. Many non-neoplastic neurological diseases can mimic brain neoplasms on neuroimaging. CASE PRESENTATION: A previously healthy 23-year-old male, presented with blurred vision to the Emergency Department of our Hospital. After initial clinical and serological examination, he was admitted to our clinic for further investigation. Neurological examination showed left homonymous hemianopsia. Brain MRI revealed edema of the right parietal lobe, compressing the posterior region of the right ventricle. Serum viral, immunological and paraneoplasmatic testing were negative. Spectroscopic MRI described the lesions as tumefactive demyelinated plaques. After treating the patient with intravenous corticosteroids, his symptoms rapidly improved and the extensive lesion of the parietal lobe decreased. CONCLUSION: In case of young patients with tumor-like lesions, demyelination should always be considered in the differential diagnosis.