18F-FDG PET/CT and functional MRI in a case of crossed logopenic primary progressive aphasia

Abstract

Primary progressive aphasia is a clinical syndrome caused by a neurodegeneration of areas and neural networks involved in language, usually in the left hemisphere. The term "crossed aphasia" denotes an acquired language dysfunction caused by a lesion in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the dominant hand. A case is presented on a 75-year-old right-handed woman with a logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia with word-finding difficulties of 2 years onset. The ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT showed right temporoparietal hypometabolism. A functional MRI scan was performed during a verb naming task in order to characterise language lateralisation patterns. A similar activation pattern was observed in both hemispheres, with less activation than expected in bilateral inferior frontal gyrus. These findings support that logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia should not be considered as a neurodegeneration starting in the left brain hemisphere, but as a syndrome characterised by asymmetric neurodegeneration of brain regions and neural networks involved in language.

Keywords: (18)F-FDG PET-CT; Afasia cruzada; Afasia progresiva primaria variante logopénica; Crossed aphasia; Functional MRI; Language lateralization; Lateralización del lenguaje; Logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia; PET-TC (18)F-FDG; RM funcional.