Back to Search
Start Over
Utility of testing for apraxia and associated features in dementia
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- BMJ Publishing Group, 2016.
-
Abstract
- Introduction Existing literature suggests that the presence or absence of apraxia and associated parietal deficits may be clinically relevant in differential diagnosis of dementia syndromes. Aim This study investigated the profile of these features in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) spectrum disorders, at first presentation. Methods Retrospective case note analysis was undertaken in 111 patients who presented to the Oxford Cognitive Disorders Clinic, Oxford, UK, including 29 amnestic AD, 12 posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), 12 logopenic primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA), 20 behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD), 7 non-fluent variant PPA (nfvPPA), 6 semantic variant PPA (svPPA) and 25 patients with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI). The clinical features of interest were: limb apraxia, apraxia of speech (AOS), and left parietal symptoms of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Results The prevalence of limb apraxia was highest in PCA, amnestic AD, lvPPA and nfvPPA. AOS was only observed in nfvPPA. Associated parietal features were more prevalent in AD spectrum than FTD spectrum disorders. Group comparisons between key differential diagnostic challenges showed that lvPPA and nfvPPA could be significantly differentiated on the presence of left parietal features and AOS, and amnestic AD could be differentiated from bvFTD, svPPA and SCI by limb apraxia. Regression analysis showed that limb apraxia could successfully differentiate between AD and FTLD spectrum disorders with 83% accuracy. Discussion Disease-specific profiles of limb apraxia and associated deficits can be observed. FTD and AD spectrum disorders can be difficult to differentiate due to overlapping cognitive symptoms, and measures of apraxia, in particular, appear to be a promising discriminator.
- Subjects :
- Male
Apraxias
Clinical Neurology
PROFILE
behavioral disciplines and activities
Diagnosis, Differential
Alzheimer Disease
BEHAVIORAL VARIANT
Humans
11 Medical and Health Sciences
Aged
Retrospective Studies
Psychiatry
Science & Technology
Neurology & Neurosurgery
FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA
Middle Aged
17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
nervous system diseases
body regions
ALZHEIMERS DEMENTIA
Surgery
Female
Neurosciences & Neurology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Follow-Up Studies
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.dedup.wf.001..7a1585098a3a55824657229debe4d7f2