Clinical Dementia Rating for Primary Progressive Aphasia (CDR-ppa).

85.SERRANO C, DILLON C, SARASOLA D, BARTOLONI L, TARAGANO FE AND , ALLEGRI RF

Congreso; Annual Meeting American Academy of Neurology; 2009

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is an uncommon neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by a relatively isolated dissolution of language followed by deterioration of general cognitive function and of activities of daily living after 2 or more years. It is difficult to demonstrate cognitive decline in PPA because such methods as Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), a global rating device, were developed for dementia of Alzheimer type, where memory is the principal domain. Objective: To develop a clinical scale for staging PPA. Material and Methods: 26 patients with PPA were evaluated with an extensive Neuropsychological battery and a modified version of the CDR (CDR-ppa) that measures language as fundamental domain, nonverbally abilities (global cognition) and functional/ social performance. CDR-ppa score is similar to CDR original version (scoring from 0 to 3) and language domain is assessed by Aphasia Severity Scale of Goodglass & Kaplan (scoring from 0 to 5). Results: The CDR-ppa for the staging of primary progressive aphasia (CDR-ppa) was found to distinguish subjects with a wide range of cognitive function, from mild to severely impaired PPA patients (scoring from 0,5 to 3). Significant inverse correlation (r= -,56/ p=0,004) was demonstrated between CDR-ppa and Boston Naming Test (BNT); while not significant correlation was observed between CDR-ppa and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Conclusions: CDR-ppa is useful for staging PPA recognizing pre dementia and dementia stage in patients with different language profiles.