The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy
Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is an uncommon presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterised by prevalent anatomo-functional involvement of posterior cortical areas. Accordingly, the main clinical features at onset are disorders of high-order visual processing, such as alexia and imp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Behavioural Neurology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-2011-0334 |
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| author | Eleonora Catricalà Pasquale A. Della Rosa Paola Ortelli Valeria Ginex Alessandra Marcone Daniela Perani Stefano F. Cappa |
| author_facet | Eleonora Catricalà Pasquale A. Della Rosa Paola Ortelli Valeria Ginex Alessandra Marcone Daniela Perani Stefano F. Cappa |
| author_sort | Eleonora Catricalà |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is an uncommon presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterised by prevalent anatomo-functional involvement of posterior cortical areas. Accordingly, the main clinical features at onset are disorders of high-order visual processing, such as alexia and impairments of visuo-spatial and visuo-constructional abilities. The clinical features in the early stages of disease are variable, and they have been suggested to stem from prevalent ventral or dorsal brain pathology, and/or asymmetric hemispheric involvement. With disease progression, these differences tend to blur with the increasing severity of neuropsychological dysfunction. We report two PCA patients showing different patterns of reading impairment (respectively, letter-by-letter reading and neglect dyslexia). A follow-up study suggested that the qualitative features of alexia remain distinctive with disease evolution. In addition, single photon emission tomography (SPECT) studies revealed different patterns of hypoperfusion, consistent with the alexia types. A careful reading assessment can provide important insights to the pattern of progression of the disease in patients with PCA up to the late stages of the pathology. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9f398a83ec57428fb58b3f880df5f69d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0953-4180 1875-8584 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioural Neurology |
| spelling | doaj-art-9f398a83ec57428fb58b3f880df5f69d2025-08-20T02:18:32ZengWileyBehavioural Neurology0953-41801875-85842011-01-0124322923610.3233/BEN-2011-0334The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical AtrophyEleonora Catricalà0Pasquale A. Della Rosa1Paola Ortelli2Valeria Ginex3Alessandra Marcone4Daniela Perani5Stefano F. Cappa6Department of Psychology, Milano-Bicocca University, Milan, ItalyVita-Salute University and San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Clinical Neurosciences, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Clinical Neurosciences, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Clinical Neurosciences, San Raffaele Turro Hospital, Milan, ItalyVita-Salute University and San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, ItalyVita-Salute University and San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, ItalyPosterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is an uncommon presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterised by prevalent anatomo-functional involvement of posterior cortical areas. Accordingly, the main clinical features at onset are disorders of high-order visual processing, such as alexia and impairments of visuo-spatial and visuo-constructional abilities. The clinical features in the early stages of disease are variable, and they have been suggested to stem from prevalent ventral or dorsal brain pathology, and/or asymmetric hemispheric involvement. With disease progression, these differences tend to blur with the increasing severity of neuropsychological dysfunction. We report two PCA patients showing different patterns of reading impairment (respectively, letter-by-letter reading and neglect dyslexia). A follow-up study suggested that the qualitative features of alexia remain distinctive with disease evolution. In addition, single photon emission tomography (SPECT) studies revealed different patterns of hypoperfusion, consistent with the alexia types. A careful reading assessment can provide important insights to the pattern of progression of the disease in patients with PCA up to the late stages of the pathology.http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-2011-0334 |
| spellingShingle | Eleonora Catricalà Pasquale A. Della Rosa Paola Ortelli Valeria Ginex Alessandra Marcone Daniela Perani Stefano F. Cappa The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy Behavioural Neurology |
| title | The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy |
| title_full | The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy |
| title_fullStr | The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy |
| title_short | The Evolution of Alexia in Two Cases of Posterior Cortical Atrophy |
| title_sort | evolution of alexia in two cases of posterior cortical atrophy |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-2011-0334 |
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