RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Apraxia screening predicts Alzheimer pathology in frontotemporal dementia
JF Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
JO J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 562
OP 569
DO 10.1136/jnnp-2018-318470
VO 90
IS 5
A1 Matthias Pawlowski
A1 Viktoria Joksch
A1 Heinz Wiendl
A1 Sven G Meuth
A1 Thomas Duning
A1 Andreas Johnen
YR 2019
UL http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/90/5/562.abstract
AB Objectives Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome linked to diverse types of underlying neuropathology. Diagnosis is mainly based on clinical presentation and accurate prediction of underlying neuropathology remains difficult.Methods We present a large cohort of patients with FTD spectrum diseases (n=84). All patients were thoroughly characterised by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers, neuroimaging, neuropsychological testing and standardised apraxia screening.Results A potential AD pathology was found in 43% of patients with FTD. CSF AD biomarker levels positively correlated with AD-typical apraxia scores in patients with FTD. The discriminative power of apraxia test results indicative of AD pathology was high (sensitivity: 90%, specificity: 66%).Conclusions Apraxia is common in neurodegenerative dementias but under-represented in clinical workup and diagnostic criteria. Standardised apraxia screening may serve as bedside test to objectify an AD-typical apraxia profile as an early and robust sign of AD pathology in patients with FTD.