Association of CSF and PET markers of neurodegeneration with electroclinical progression in Lafora disease

• Published in: Frontiers in neurology 2023-06, Vol.14, p.1202971-1202971
• Main Authors: d'Orsi, Giuseppe, Farolfi, Andrea, Muccioli, Lorenzo, Palumbo, Orazio, Palumbo, Pietro, Modoni, Sergio, Allegri, Vincenzo, Garibotto, Valentina, Di Claudio, Maria Teresa, Di Muro, Ester, Benvenuto, Mario, Bisulli, Francesca, Carella, Massimo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: amyloid biomarkers; electro-clinical features; follow-up; Lafora disease; neurodegenerative biomarkers; Neurology; progressive myoclonic epilepsy
• ISSN: 1664-2295; 1664-2295
• DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1202971

To evaluate the electro-clinical features in association with laboratory and instrumental correlates of neurodegeneration to detect the progression of Lafora disease (LD). We investigated the electro-clinical longitudinal data and CSF Aβ42, p-tau and t-tauAg, amyloid, and F-FDG PET of five unrelated LD families. Three progressive electro-clinical stages were identified. The early phase was characterized by rare, generalized tonic-clonic and focal visual seizures, followed by the occurrence of myoclonus after a period ranging from 2 to 12 months. The intermediate stage, usually occurring 2 years after the onset of epilepsy, is characterized by a worsening of epilepsy and myoclonus associated with progressive dementia and cerebellar signs. Finally, the late stage, evolving after a mean period of 7 ± 1.41 years from the onset of the disease, was characterized by gait ataxia resulting in bedriddenness, severe dementia, daily/pluri-daily myoclonus, drug-resistant epilepsy, clusters of seizures or status epilepticus, and medical complications. Amyloid (CSF Aβ42, amyloid PET) and neurodegenerative (CSF p-tau and t-tauAg, FDG-PET) biomarkers indicate a pattern of cognitive impairment of the non-Alzheimer's disease type. A total of 80% of the LD patients showed more severe hypometabolism in the second FDG-PET scan compared to the first scan performed in a lower phase; the lateral temporal lobe and the thalamus hypometabolism were associated with the presence of intermediate or late phase. Three electroclinical and 18F-FDG PET evolutive stages are useful biomarkers for the progression of LD and could help to evaluate the efficacy of new disease-modifying treatments. The combination of traditional CSF biomarkers improves the diagnostic accuracy of cognitive decline in LD patients, indicating a cognitive impairment of the non-Alzheimer's disease type.