Prominent hypometabolism of the right temporoparietal and frontal cortex in two left-handed patients with primary progressive aphasia

J Neurol. 2002 Sep;249(9):1263-7. doi: 10.1007/s00415-002-0832-z.

Abstract

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is characterized by progressive deterioration of language function with relative preservation of other cognitive functions. Previous studies based on neuroimaging and histology point to predominantly left temporal pathology in PPA patients. Here we report two left-handed subjects with typical symptoms of the nonfluent form of PPA in whom 18F-FDG PET revealed an asymmetric right-hemispheric pattern of reduced glucose metabolism in the frontal and temporoparietal cortex. These findings support the hypothesis that PPA can be considered as a symptom complex rather than a disease entity.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aphasia, Primary Progressive / diagnostic imaging
  • Aphasia, Primary Progressive / metabolism*
  • Aphasia, Primary Progressive / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Frontal Lobe / metabolism*
  • Frontal Lobe / physiopathology
  • Functional Laterality / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Parietal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Parietal Lobe / metabolism*
  • Parietal Lobe / physiopathology
  • Temporal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Temporal Lobe / metabolism*
  • Temporal Lobe / physiopathology
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed / methods