Posterior cortical atrophy variants of Alzheimer's disease.
Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) was first described by Benson in 1988 and, since then, has been regarded as a variant of Alzheimer's disease. We present 2 patients with symptoms suggestive of PCA and 2 patients with apraxia as the initial manifestation. Primary motor and sensory modalities were intact. Mild memory impairment was present early in the course of the disease and gradually worsened. Parieto-occipital atrophy was evident on brain MRI. HMPAO-SPECT demonstrated parieto-occipital hypoperfusion significantly different from the temporoparietal hypoperfusion usually described in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. These findings suggest that HMPAO-SPECT can help in diagnosing atypical variants of Alzheimer's disease. We suggest that PCA represents two clinically related behavioral phenotypes: PCA with predominantly apraxia manifestations and PCA with predominantly visuospatial disturbances. Copyrightz1999S.KargerAG,Basel
Aharon-Peretz
J
J
Cognitive Neurology Unit, Rambam Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. jaharon@rambam.health.gov.il
Israel
O
O
Goldsher
D
D
Peretz
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D001072:Apraxias / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon