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Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is a clinical syndrome determined by various underlying neurodegenerative disorders requiring a pathological assessment for a definitive diagnosis. A literature review was performed following the methodology described in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews to investigate the additional value of traditional and cutting-edge cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum/plasma biomarkers in profiling CBS. Four databases were screened applying predefined inclusion criteria: (1) recruiting patients with CBS; (2) analyzing CSF/plasma biomarkers in CBS. The review highlights the potential role of the association of fluid biomarkers in diagnostic workup of CBS, since they may contribute to a more accurate diagnosis and patient selection for future disease-modifying agent; for example, future trial designs should consider baseline CSF Neurofilament Light Chains (NfL) or progranulin dosage to stratify treatment arms according to neuropathological substrates, and serum NfL dosage might be used to monitor the evolution of CBS. In this scenario, prospective cohort studies, starting with neurological examination and neuropsychological tests, should be considered to assess the correlations of clinical profiles and various biomarkers.

Background: Dementia affects more than 55 million people worldwide. Several technologies have been developed to slow cognitive decline: deep brain stimulation (DBS) of network targets in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) have been recently investigated. Objective: This study aimed to review the characteristics of the populations, protocols, and outcomes of patients with dementia enrolled in clinical trials investigating the feasibility and efficacy of DBS. Materials and methods: A systematic search of all registered RCTs was performed on Clinicaltrials.gov and EudraCT, while a systematic literature review was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and APA PsycInfo to identify published trials. Results: The literature search yielded 2122 records, and the clinical trial search 15 records. Overall, 17 studies were included. Two of 17 studies were open-label studies reporting no NCT/EUCT code and were analysed separately. Of 12 studies investigating the role of DBS in AD, we included 5 published RCTs, 2 unregistered open-label (OL) studies, 3 recruiting studies, and 2 unpublished trials with no evidence of completion. The overall risk of bias was assessed as moderate-high. Our review showed significant heterogeneity in the recruited populations regarding age, disease severity, informed consent availability, inclusion, and exclusion criteria. Notably, the standard mean of overall severe adverse events was moderately high (SAEs: 9.10 ± 7.10%). Conclusion: The population investigated is small and heterogeneous, published results from clinical trials are under-represented, severe adverse events not negligible, and cognitive outcomes uncertain. Overall, the validity of these studies requires confirmation based on forthcoming higher-quality clinical trials.

Background: The foreseeable clinical availability in Europe of disease-modifying drugs effective in early phases of some neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease), shifts the focus to the etiological diagnosis of pre-dementia stages, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD). Current diagnostic approaches employ costly and limited methods such as PET-FDG. Pseudo-continuous Arterial Spin Labeling (pCASL) is emerging as a promising non-invasive alternative, offering rapid, radiation-free brain perfusion measurements through MRI. Recent research demonstrates pCASL's comparable performance to PET-FDG in neurodegenerative dementias, revealing aligned affected brain regions. However, pCASL's suitability for diagnosing MCI and SCD remains unexplored. The CAPE study (NCT05756270) aims to evaluate pCASL's diagnostic potential in MCI and SCD during initial assessments, by correlating cerebral blood flow patterns from pCASL and PET-FDG and comparing their accuracy. Methods: CAPE primary objective will be to compare brain cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism patterns among MCI and SCD subjects both in general and across ATN classifications of CSF biomarkers. Secondary objectives will encompass evaluating pCASL's potential in distinguishing various subgroups of SCD and MCI, examining correlations between pCASL/PET-FDG and neuropsychological tests, predicting conversion to dementia using pCASL and PET-FDG, and exploring associations between pCASL and diverse fluid biomarkers. The study will recruit up to 150 MCI and SCD subjects, with CDR ≤ 0.5 and age ≤ 80. The research will span 36 months (24-month recruitment phase, and partially overlapping 24-month follow-up). Participants will undergo baseline brain MRI, PET-FDG, neuropsychological tests, lumbar puncture, and blood tests. Neuropsychological tests will be repeated annually twice to evaluate progression to dementia. A customized pipeline for joint quantitative analysis

Objectives: Chorea is a rare manifestation of Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome (APS). It has been hypothesized a direct non-thrombotic interaction of APL antibodies with neurons of the dopaminergic nigro-striatal pathway. This interaction could determine membrane depolarization that would result in chorea as clinical manifestation. Several clinical manifestations of the APS have been excluded from the diagnostic criteria of the syndrome, including neurological. These manifestations have been included in a separate category viz “Probable APS” since they could predate the development of actual thrombosis. Long-term therapy of these patients with either antiaggregant or anticoagulant might have to be considered. Materials: A 77-year-old-woman was admitted for subacute onset of choreiform movements affecting the limbs of the left side of the body, associated with a mild slowdown of ideomotor processes and impairment of speech. Her medical history revealed one miscarriage at the fourth month and a full-term pregnancy. Methods: In the hypothesis of APS, lab analyses revealed high titres of aCL, abeta2GPI and LAC antibodies, the absence of complement consumption and prolonged aPTT combined with in-range platelets level. Brain MRI showed a mild chronic vasculopathy. 18F-FDG PET scan showed a hyper-metabolism of the basal ganglia. Results: Based on the high aPL titre, FDG-PET hyper-metabolism of the basal ganglia and lack of MR-ischemic findings suggestive for thrombosis, a diagnosis of Probable-APS was made. A symptomatic treatment with haloperidol was started, determining complete remission of the motor symptoms, that persisted at a 12-week follow-up evaluation. In parallel a preventive treatment with aspirin was started, in absence of further thrombotic complications. Discussion: Movements disorders associated with hypermetabolism of the basal ganglia can be features of APS and Probable-APS. We hypothesize a role of 18F-FDG PET in the diagnostic process to assess basal

Recent models of Alzheimer's disease progression propose that disease may be transmitted between brain areas either via local diffusion or long-distance transport via white matter fibre pathways. However, it is unclear whether such models are applicable in non-amnestic Alzheimer's disease, which is associated with domain-specific cognitive deficits and relatively spared episodic memory. To date, the anatomical progression of disease in non-amnestic patients remains understudied. We used longitudinal imaging to differentiate earlier atrophy and later disease spread in three non-amnestic variants, including logopenic-variant primary progressive aphasia (n = 25), posterior cortical atrophy (n = 20), and frontal-variant Alzheimer's disease (n = 12), as well as 17 amnestic Alzheimer's disease patients. Patients were compared to 37 matched controls. All patients had autopsy (n = 7) or CSF (n = 67) evidence of Alzheimer's disease pathology. We first assessed atrophy in suspected sites of disease origin, adjusting for age, sex, and severity of cognitive impairment; we then performed exploratory whole-brain analysis to investigate longitudinal disease spread both within and outside these regions. Additionally, we asked whether each phenotype exhibited more rapid change in its associated disease foci than other phenotypes. Finally, we investigated whether atrophy was related to structural brain connectivity. Each non-amnestic phenotype displayed unique patterns of initial atrophy and subsequent neocortical change that correlated with cognitive decline. Longitudinal atrophy included areas both proximal to and distant from sites of initial atrophy, suggesting heterogeneous mechanisms of disease spread. Moreover, regional rates of neocortical change differed by phenotype. Logopenic-variant patients exhibited greater initial atrophy and more rapid longitudinal change in left lateral temporal areas than other groups. Frontal-variant patients had pronounced atrophy in left insula a

Introduction: Previous studies showed that quarantine for pandemic diseases is associated with several psychological and medical effects. The consequences of quarantine for COVID-19 pandemic in patients with dementia are unknown. We investigated the clinical changes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and evaluated caregivers’ distress during COVID-19 quarantine. Methods: The study involved 87 Italian Dementia Centers. Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), and Vascular Dementia (VD) were eligible for the study. Family caregivers of patients with dementia were interviewed by phone in April 2020, 45 days after quarantine declaration. Main outcomes were patients’ changes in cognitive, behavioral, and motor symptoms. Secondary outcomes were effects on caregivers’ psychological features. Results: 4913 patients (2934 females, 1979 males) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Caregivers reported a worsening in cognitive functions in 55.1% of patients, mainly in subjects with DLB and AD. Aggravation of behavioral symptoms was observed in 51.9% of patients. In logistic regression analysis, previous physical independence was associated with both cognitive and behavioral worsening (odds ratio 1.85 [95% CI 1.42–2.39], 1.84 [95% CI 1.43–2.38], respectively). On the contrary, pandemic awareness was a protective factor for the worsening of cognitive and behavioral symptoms (odds ratio 0.74 [95% CI 0.65–0.85]; and 0.72 [95% CI 0.63–0.82], respectively). Approximately 25.9% of patients showed the onset of new behavioral symptoms. A worsening in motor function was reported by 36.7% of patients. Finally, caregivers reported a high increase in anxiety, depression, and distress. Conclusion: Our study shows that quarantine for COVID-19 is associated with an acute worsening of clinical symptoms in patients with dementia as well as increase of caregivers’ burden. Our findings emphasize the importance to imp

Thrombotic complications are common in COVID-19 patients, but cerebral venous system involvement, timing after infection, optimal treatment, and long-term outcome are uncertain. We report a case of massive cerebral venous thrombosis and concomitant internal iliac vein thrombosis occurring in the late phase of paucisymptomatic COVID-19 infection. Mild respiratory symptoms, without fever, started 3 weeks before headache and acute neurological deficits. The patient had silent hypoxemia and typical COVID-19 associated interstitial pneumonia. Brain CT scan showed a left parietal hypodense lesion with associated sulcal subarachnoid hemorrhage. CT cerebral venography showed a massive cerebral venous thrombosis involving the right transverse sinus, the right jugular bulb, the superior sagittal sinus, the straight sinus, the vein of Galen, and both internal cerebral veins. Abdominal CT scan showed no malignancy but revealed an asymptomatic right internal iliac vein thrombosis. Both cerebral venous thrombosis and pelvic vein thrombosis were effectively treated with unfractionated heparin started on the day of admission, then shifted to low molecular weight heparin, with a favorable clinical course. Nasopharyngel swab, repeated twice, tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Serological tests confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our case supports active surveillance and prevention of thrombotic complications associated with COVID-19, which may affect both peripheral and cerebral venous system. Early initiation of unfractionated heparin may lead to good neurologic outcome.

Introduction: Previous studies showed that quarantine for pandemic diseases is associated with several psychological and medical effects. The consequences of quarantine for COVID-19 pandemic in patients with dementia are unknown. We investigated the clinical changes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and evaluated caregivers’ distress during COVID-19 quarantine. Methods: The study involved 87 Italian Dementia Centers. Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), and Vascular Dementia (VD) were eligible for the study. Family caregivers of patients with dementia were interviewed by phone in April 2020, 45 days after quarantine declaration. Main outcomes were patients’ changes in cognitive, behavioral, and motor symptoms. Secondary outcomes were effects on caregivers’ psychological features. Results: 4913 patients (2934 females, 1979 males) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Caregivers reported a worsening in cognitive functions in 55.1% of patients, mainly in subjects with DLB and AD. Aggravation of behavioral symptoms was observed in 51.9% of patients. In logistic regression analysis, previous physical independence was associated with both cognitive and behavioral worsening (odds ratio 1.85 [95% CI 1.42–2.39], 1.84 [95% CI 1.43–2.38], respectively). On the contrary, pandemic awareness was a protective factor for the worsening of cognitive and behavioral symptoms (odds ratio 0.74 [95% CI 0.65–0.85]; and 0.72 [95% CI 0.63–0.82], respectively). Approximately 25.9% of patients showed the onset of new behavioral symptoms. A worsening in motor function was reported by 36.7% of patients. Finally, caregivers reported a high increase in anxiety, depression, and distress. Conclusion: Our study shows that quarantine for COVID-19 is associated with an acute worsening of clinical symptoms in patients with dementia as well as increase of caregivers’ burden. Our findings emphasize the importance to imp

Recenti studi sulla progressione della malattia d’Alzheimer(AD)suggeriscono che la patologia possa essere trasmessa da un’area all’altra del cervello tramite diffusione locale o lungo le fibre assonali.Tuttavia,quest’ipotesi necessita di maggiori conferme ed è ancora meno chiaro se questi modelli possano essere applicabili alle varianti non amnesiche di AD(naAD),un gruppo di fenotipi AD caratterizzati da relativo risparmio all’esordio della memoria episodica e deficit cognitivi dominio-specifici.Pochi studi ad oggi hanno infatti analizzato la progressione longitudinale della malattia in naAD, tutti al massimo con due sole di queste varianti. Inizialmente abbiamo confrontato 240 RMN pesate in T1 da 129 pazienti AD con RMN di controlli sani per stabilire l’atrofia in 120 regioni di interesse(ROI); poi abbiamo calcolato modelli di progressione di malattia separatamente per ogni fenotipo: AD amnesici(aAD),variante logopenica di afasia primaria progressiva(lvPPA),atrofia corticale posteriore(PCA)e variante frontale di AD(fvAD).Tutti i pazienti avevano evidenza di patologia AD tramite dati autoptici o da liquor cefalorachidiano(CSF).I risultati dalla coorte di aAD sono stati utilizzati per determinare i parametri per l’algoritmo di assegnazione delle fasi,basato sull’associazione con lo staging di patologia di Braak. Per ogni variante AD,4 fasi di atrofia regionale sono state definite sulla base della frequenza decrescente di atrofia tra i soggetti.Abbiamo osservato pattern unici di atrofia cumulativa per ogni fenotipo.Le ROI di fase 1 nel nostro modello rappresentano l’origine anatomica di ogni fenotipo,inclusi: il lobo temporale mesiale(MTL)per il gruppo aAD(risparmiato negli altri gruppi),il lobo temporale sinistro nella lvPPA,la corteccia parieto-occipitale nella PCA,quella temporo-parietale per la CBS e le aree fronto-temporali per la fvAD.Successivamente abbiamo assegnato una fase ad ogni RMN dei pazienti in base alla somiglianza dei pattern di atrofia regionale co, Recent studies of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) spread suggest that pathology may be transmitted from one brain area to another either via local diffusion or long-way transport via white matter pathways. However, this hypothesis requires more confirmations, and it’s even more unclear whether such models are applicable in non-amnestic AD (naAD), a group of AD phenotypes characterized by relative spared episodic memory at onset and domain-specific cognitive impairments. Few studies to date have in fact addressed the longitudinal spread of disease in naAD, and all of them considering no more than two variants. At first we compared 240 T1-weighted anatomical MRIs from 129 AD patients with elderly controls’ scans to assess atrophy in each of 120 regions-of-interest (ROIs); then we computed disease progression models separately for each phenotype: typical amnestic AD (aAD), logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA), posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), corticobasal syndrome (CBS), and frontal-variant AD (fvAD). All patients had autopsy or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) evidence of AD pathology. Results from the amnestic cohort were used to determine appropriate parameters for the phase assignment algorithm, based on association with Braak pathology staging. For each AD variant, 4 phases of regional atrophy were defined based on decreasing frequency of atrophy across participants. We observed a unique distribution of accumulating atrophy for each phenotype. Phase 1 ROIs in our model represent the anatomical origin for each phenotype, including: medial temporal lobe (MTL) for the aAD group (spared in the other phenotypes), left lateral temporal lobe for lvPPA, occipito-parietal cortex for PCA, temporo-parietal cortex for CBS, and fronto-temporal cortex for fvAD. We subsequently assigned a phase to each patient MRI scan based on the similarity of regional atrophy patterns with atrophy predicted for the corresponding phenotype at each phase. ROI phases were strongly correlated

Background: In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic due to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and several governments planned a national quarantine in order to control the virus spread. Acute psychological effects of quarantine in frail elderly subjects with special needs, such as patients with dementia, have been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to assess modifications of neuropsychiatric symptoms during quarantine in patients with dementia and their caregivers. Methods: This is a sub-study of a multicenter nation-wide survey. A structured telephone interview was delivered to family caregivers of patients with diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and vascular dementia (VD), followed regularly at 87 Italian memory clinics. Variations in behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPSD) were collected after 1 month since quarantine declaration and associations with disease type, severity, gender, and caregiver’s stress burden were analyzed. Results: A total of 4,913 caregivers participated in the survey. Increased BPSD was reported in 59.6% of patients as worsening of preexisting symptoms (51.9%) or as new onset (26%), and requested drug modifications in 27.6% of these cases. Irritability, apathy, agitation, and anxiety were the most frequently reported worsening symptoms and sleep disorder and irritability the most frequent new symptoms. Profile of BPSD varied according to dementia type, disease severity, and patients’ gender. Anxiety and depression were associated with a diagnosis of AD (OR 1.35, CI: 1.12–1.62), mild to moderate disease severity and female gender. DLB was significantly associated with a higher risk of worsening hallucinations (OR 5.29, CI 3.66–7.64) and sleep disorder (OR 1.69, CI 1.25–2.29), FTD with wandering (OR 1.62, CI 1.12–2.35), and change of appetite (OR 1.52, CI 1.03–2.25). Stress-related symptoms were experienced by two-thirds of caregiv

Amnestic Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by early atrophy of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobes before spreading to the neocortex. In contrast, nonamnestic Alzheimer's patients have relative sparing of the hippocampus, but the pattern in which the disease spreads is unclear. We examined spreading disease in nonamnestic AD using a novel magnetic resonance imaging-based analysis adapted from pathologic staging studies, applied here to cross-sectional imaging data. We selected 240 T1-weighted scans from 129 patients with pathology confirmed by autopsy or cerebrospinal fluid, and atrophy maps were computed relative to 238 scans from 115 elderly controls. For each phenotype, the frequency of atrophy in 116 brain regions was used to infer the anatomical origin of disease and its progression across 4 phases of atrophy. Results from the amnestic cohort were used to determine appropriate parameter settings for the phase assignment algorithm, based on correspondence to Braak pathology staging. Phase 1 regions, which represent the origin of disease, included the hippocampus for the amnestic group (comprising 33 scans); left lateral temporal lobe for logopenic-variant primary progressive aphasia (88 scans); occipitoparietal cortex for posterior cortical atrophy (51 scans); temporoparietal cortex for corticobasal syndrome (31 scans); and frontotemporal cortex for behavioral/dysexecutive variant AD (37 scans). In nonamnestic patients, atrophy spread to other neocortical areas in later phases, but the hippocampus exhibited only late-phase atrophy in posterior cortical atrophy and corticobasal syndrome. Region-specific phase values were also associated with regional measures of tau, beta amyloid, neuronal loss, and gliosis for the subset of patients (n = 17) with neuropathology findings; this comparison represented a first validation of the phase assignment algorithm. We subsequently assigned a phase to each patient scan based on the similarity of regional atrophy

Accumulation of paired helical filament tau contributes to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). (18) F-flortaucipir is a positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand sensitive to tau in AD, but its clinical utility will depend in part on its ability to predict cognitive symptoms in diverse dementia phenotypes associated with selective, regional uptake. We examined associations between (18) F-flortaucipir and cognition in 14 mildly-impaired patients (12 with cerebrospinal fluid analytes consistent with AD pathology) who had amnestic (n = 5) and non-amnestic AD syndromes, including posterior cortical atrophy (PCA, n = 5) and logopenic-variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA, n = 4). Amnestic AD patients had deficits in memory; lvPPA in language; and both amnestic AD and PCA patients in visuospatial function. Associations with cognition were tested using sparse regression and compared to associations in anatomical regions-of-interest (ROIs). (18) F-flortaucipir uptake was expected to show regionally-specific correlations with each domain. In multivariate analyses, uptake was elevated in neocortical areas specifically associated with amnestic and non-amnestic syndromes. Uptake in left anterior superior temporal gyrus accounted for 67% of the variance in language performance. Uptake in right lingual gyrus predicted 85% of the variance in visuospatial performance. Memory was predicted by uptake in right fusiform gyrus and cuneus as well as a cluster comprising right anterior hippocampus and amygdala; this eigenvector explained 57% of the variance in patients' scores. These results provide converging evidence for associations between (18) F-flortaucipir uptake, tau pathology, and patients' cognitive symptoms

The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 196 patients with dementia treated with memantine for at least 6 months. Eleven (5.6%) developed treatment-induced agitation. At chi-square analysis, they were significantly more likely to have a history of similar side effects from other medications acting on the central nervous system in comparison with the group without agitation, suggesting neurochemical susceptibility. A trend toward a significantly greater prevalence was also present for ischemic cardiopathy and neuroimaging evidence of chronic small vessel disease. Ischemic brain and heart disease might contribute through anatomical and functional alterations within the glutamatergic system.