title: Extrapyramidal signs in the primary progressive aphasias.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Extrapyramidal signs (EPS) may vary across 3 major subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA): progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA), semantic dementia (SD), and progressive logopenic aphasia (PLA).
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed initial neurological examinations from a clinical PPA cohort (PNFA = 49, SD = 26, PLA = 28) to determine the prevalence of specific categories of EPS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The presence of any EPS was more common in PNFA (38.8%) and PLA (35.7%) than in SD (3.8%). The PNFA group exhibited the highest prevalence of bradykinesia (PNFA: 22.4%, SD: 3.8%, PLA: 0.0%) and rigidity (PNFA: 30.6%, SD: 0.0%, PLA: 10.7%). Calculated positive likelihood ratios indicated bradykinesia (12.1) or rigidity (5.5) was more strongly associated with PNFA than other PPAs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that on initial presentation, specific EPS may help distinguish PPA subtypes when linguistic and/or neuroimaging profiles are indistinct. Moreover, EPS could represent a marker of underlying tauopathy, linking clinical presentation to neuropathology in PPA.
authors.affiliation: VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA. skremen@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kremen
authors.forename: Mario F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Mendez
authors.forename: Po-Heng
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Edmond
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Teng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018888:Aphasia, Primary Progressive / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001480:Basal Ganglia Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018476:Hypokinesia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009127:Muscle Rigidity / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology