Slowly progressive aphasia in three patients. The problem of accompanying neuropsychological deficit

Three patients are described presenting with a slowly progressive aphasic disorder associated with degenerative cortical disease. The symptoms began in the presenium and the length of illness was 4 to 5 years. The language disorder corresponded in all patients to a severe form of amnesic aphasia but...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain (London, England : 1878) England : 1878), 1988-02, Vol.111 ( Pt 1) (1), p.151-168
Main Authors: Poeck, K, Luzzatti, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aphasia - complications
Aphasia - diagnostic imaging
Aphasia - psychology
Brain Diseases - complications
Brain Diseases - diagnostic imaging
Female
Humans
Intelligence
Language
Male
Mathematics
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Three patients are described presenting with a slowly progressive aphasic disorder associated with degenerative cortical disease. The symptoms began in the presenium and the length of illness was 4 to 5 years. The language disorder corresponded in all patients to a severe form of amnesic aphasia but a moderate to marked semantic breakdown was also found. Formal language examination was complemented by extensive neuropsychological testing. This revealed a severe deficit in language-dependent cognitive tasks. The patients were given a follow-up language and neuropsychological examination. In addition to the deterioration of language functions, a significant decline was observed in nonverbal intelligence tasks even though their level of performance still remained within the normal range. Follow-up with standardized intelligence tests might detect a trend towards generalized dementia in similar cases. This would mean that these patients should be considered as presenting with slowly progressive aphasia preceding generalized dementia.
ISSN:0006-8950
1460-2156
DOI:10.1093/brain/111.1.151