Shirin Salimi1, Muireann Irish2, David Foxe2, John R Hodges3, Olivier Piguet2, James R Burrell4. 1. Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. 2. The University of Sydney, Brain and Mind Centre and School of Psychology, Sydney, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australia. 3. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australia; The University of Sydney, Brain and Mind Centre and Sydney Medical School, Sydney, Australia. 4. The University of Sydney, Brain and Mind Centre and Sydney Medical School, Sydney, Australia; Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: james.burrell@sydney.edu.au.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Approximately 30% of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients are misdiagnosed due to overlapping and evolving clinical features. In particular, the distinction of AD from behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) can be challenging. Measures of visuospatial ability, which rely on parietal lobe function, show promise as markers of AD as the parietal lobe is preferentially affected early in the disease course. We hypothesise that traditional measures of visuospatial function may help distinguish AD from bvFTD. MATERIALS & METHODS: The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) visuospatial subtask, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (RCF) task, and subtests of the visual object and space perception battery (VOSP) were used to examine visuospatial abilities in 55 AD patients, 51 bvFTD patients, and 54 healthy Controls. A subgroup analysis was performed in patients with Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission tomography (PiB-PET) data. RESULTS: Relative to Controls, AD and bvFTD patients were impaired on almost all visuospatial tasks. Significantly worse performance was observed in AD relative to bvFTD patients on drawing tasks (ACE pentagons/loops copy, cube copy, and all RCF scores) and tasks of spatial orientation (VOSP cube analysis), when controlling for disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: Visuospatial measures demonstrate limited ability to distinguish between AD and bvFTD unless disease severity is taken into consideration. Controlling for disease severity reveals a disproportionate visuospatial impairment in AD compared to bvFTD. Development of targeted measures of visuospatial function is required to improve differential diagnosis of these syndromes.
OBJECTIVES: Approximately 30% of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients are misdiagnosed due to overlapping and evolving clinical features. In particular, the distinction of AD from behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) can be challenging. Measures of visuospatial ability, which rely on parietal lobe function, show promise as markers of AD as the parietal lobe is preferentially affected early in the disease course. We hypothesise that traditional measures of visuospatial function may help distinguish AD from bvFTD. MATERIALS & METHODS: The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) visuospatial subtask, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (RCF) task, and subtests of the visual object and space perception battery (VOSP) were used to examine visuospatial abilities in 55 ADpatients, 51 bvFTD patients, and 54 healthy Controls. A subgroup analysis was performed in patients with Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission tomography (PiB-PET) data. RESULTS: Relative to Controls, AD and bvFTD patients were impaired on almost all visuospatial tasks. Significantly worse performance was observed in AD relative to bvFTD patients on drawing tasks (ACE pentagons/loops copy, cube copy, and all RCF scores) and tasks of spatial orientation (VOSP cube analysis), when controlling for disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: Visuospatial measures demonstrate limited ability to distinguish between AD and bvFTD unless disease severity is taken into consideration. Controlling for disease severity reveals a disproportionate visuospatial impairment in AD compared to bvFTD. Development of targeted measures of visuospatial function is required to improve differential diagnosis of these syndromes.
Authors: Fernando Henríquez; Victoria Cabello; Sandra Baez; Leonardo Cruz de Souza; Patricia Lillo; David Martínez-Pernía; Loreto Olavarría; Teresa Torralva; Andrea Slachevsky Journal: Front Neurol Date: 2022-02-16 Impact factor: 4.003
Authors: Alfonso Delgado-Álvarez; María Nieves Cabrera-Martín; María Valles-Salgado; Cristina Delgado-Alonso; María José Gil; María Díez-Cirarda; Jorge Matías-Guiu; Jordi A Matias-Guiu Journal: Front Aging Neurosci Date: 2022-08-23 Impact factor: 5.702