Affiliations: IRCCS S. Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia,
Italy | Department of Neuroscience, Vita Salute University and
San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy | Department of General Psychology, University of Padua,
Italy | Department of Neurology, University of Brescia,
Italy | Department of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnologies,
University of Brescia, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Claudia Repetto, Neuroscience Unit, IRCCS
S. Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni 4, Brescia, Italy. Tel.:
+39 0303501594; Fax: +39 0303501513; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: We described a 56-years-old man with a diagnosis of "non-fluent
primary progressive aphasia" (NfPPA). An accurate neuropsychological,
neurological and neuroimaging evaluation was performed in order to assess
clinical and behavioural features of the patient. From a neuropsychological
point of view, the patient showed a typical cognitive profile of subjects
affected by NfPPA: a prominent language deficit, associated with impairments in
several cognitive domains after three years from the onset of the
symptomatology. The most intriguing feature is that SPECT revealed
hypoperfusion in the right frontal cortex, albeit the patient is right-handed. This unexpected finding shows that NfPPA may arise not only from cortical
abnormalities in the language-dominant left hemisphere, but also from right
hemisphere involvement in a right hander (crossed aphasia).
Keywords: Non-fluent primary progressive aphasia, language disorder, lateralization, frontotemporal dementia
