A Pilot Study on Clinical and Neuroimaging Characteristics of Chinese Posterior Cortical Atrophy: Comparison with Typical Alzheimer's Disease.
Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a clinicoradiologic neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by predominant impairment of higher visual functions. Neuroimaging and neuropathological studies show that PCA is probably an atypical presentation of Alzheimer's disease. However, in China PCA has rarely been studied and remains largely unknown. Our study therefore aimed to analyze the clinical manifestations and patterns of cerebral atrophy, amyloid beta deposition and regional glucose metabolism in Chinese PCA patients, comparing them directly with those of typical Alzheimer's disease (TAD). Seven PCA patients, 6 TAD patients and 5 controls underwent neuropsychological assessment, MRI scan, 11C-PIB PET scan and 18F-FDG PET scan. Cerebral atrophy including ventricular enlargement, posterior atrophy and medial temporal lobe atrophy were evaluated with MRI. The uptake of 11C-PIB was quantified at the voxel level using the standardized uptake value ratio. Comparisons of regional cerebral glucose metabolism were calculated with statistical parametric mapping. PCA patients showed significant impairment on visuospatial function in neuropsychological assessment. And PCA patients showed more severe posterior atrophy and less severe left medial temporal lobe atrophy compared with TAD patients. The data from 11C-PIB PET scanning showed that amyloid beta deposition in PCA was comparable to TAD. Moreover, in PCA the results from 18F-FDG PET scanning revealed significant hypometabolism in the temporoparietooccipital region and identified specific hypometabolism in the right occipital lobe, compared with TAD. Our study thus provides a preliminary view of PCA in Chinese patients. A further study with a larger number of subjects would be recommended to confirm these findings.
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Xiao-Dan
XD
Wang
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Hui
H
Lu
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Zhihong
Z
Shi
PET-CT Center, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300052, China.
Li
L
Cai
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Shuai
S
Liu
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Shuling
S
Liu
Department of Radiology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Tong
T
Han
PET-CT Center, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300052, China.
Ying
Y
Wang
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Yuying
Y
Zhou
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Xinping
X
Wang
PET-CT Center, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300052, China.
Shuo
S
Gao
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Yong
Y
Ji
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D001284:Atrophy; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18