Cognitive Impairment Center, Local Health Autority n.2 Marca Trevigiana, Treviso, Italy.
University of Milan, Dino Ferrari Center, Milan, Italy.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2019;67(3):985-993. doi: 10.3233/JAD-180715.
We report the case of a woman firstly referred to our Memory Clinic at the age of 61, following the development of cognitive complaints and difficulties in sustained attention. The investigation that was performed showed: predominant executive dysfunctions at the neuropsychological evaluation, with mild, partial and stable involvement of the memory domain; cortical and subcortical atrophy with well-preserved hippocampal structures at MRI; marked fronto-temporal and moderate parietal hypometabolism from 18F-FDG PET study with a sparing of the posterior cingulate and precuneus; positivity of amyloid-β at 18F-Flutemetamol PET; an hexanucleotide intermediate repeats expansion of C9ORF72 gene (12//38 repeats) and ApoE genotype ɛ4/ɛ4. The patient was diagnosed with probable early onset frontal variant of Alzheimer's disease (AD), presenting with a major executive function impairment. The lack of specific areas of brain atrophy, as well as the failure to meet the clinical criteria for any frontotemporal dementia, drove us to perform the aforementioned investigations, which yielded our final diagnosis. The present case highlights the need to take into consideration a diagnosis of frontal variant of AD when the metabolic and the clinical picture are somehow dissonant.
我们报告了一例女性病例,她最初于 61 岁时被转至我们的记忆诊所,原因是出现认知障碍和持续注意力困难。进行的检查显示:神经心理学评估时存在明显的执行功能障碍,记忆域轻度、部分且稳定受累;MRI 显示皮质和皮质下萎缩,海马结构保存完好;18F-FDG PET 研究显示额颞叶和中等程度顶叶代谢减退,后扣带回和楔前叶保留;18F-Flutemetamol PET 检查显示淀粉样蛋白-β阳性;C9ORF72 基因六核苷酸中间重复扩展(12//38 重复)和 ApoE 基因型ɛ4/ɛ4。该患者被诊断为可能的早发性额颞叶变异型阿尔茨海默病(AD),表现为严重的执行功能障碍。由于缺乏特定的脑萎缩区域,并且不符合任何额颞叶痴呆的临床标准,我们进行了上述检查,最终做出了诊断。本病例强调了在代谢和临床表现有些不一致时,需要考虑额颞叶变异型 AD 的诊断。