La variante logopénique de l’aphasie primaire progressive : état des connaissances et controverses cliniques

Abstract

The newly identified logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is far from being unanimously accepted among the clinical and scientific community. The objective of the present literature review is to provide an update on the characteristics allowing the differential diagnosis of lvPPA, as well as to raise the issues concerning consensual and controversial elements related to the specificity of its clinical features. Nineteen articles have been retrieved through a systematic search in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Current Contents. The aims pursued in these articles, as well as their research angles, are highly varied. Some relate to diagnostic criteria while others are rather intended to differentiate the clinical characteristics of lvPPA from those of the two other variants of PPA or of Alzheimer’s disease. Generally, results from a number of studies suggest that lvPPA is a distinct entity from the two other PPA variants, but its diagnostic criteria lack specificity or sensibility. A few other studies specifically addressed the differentiation between lvPPA and Alzheimer’s disease or challenged its very existence. This literature review does not allow for a clear and definitive conclusion with regard to the characterization of lvPPA but provides an accurate portrait of challenges related to this new clinical entity. It strongly suggests that future studies should be conducted in order to clarify and improve the distinctive characteristics of PPA variants.