Graff‐Radford, Jonathan

Abstract We report a group of patients presenting with a progressive dementia syndrome characterized by predominant dysfunction in core executive functions, relatively young age of onset and positive biomarkers for Alzheimer’s pathophysiology. Atypical frontal, dysexecutive/behavioural variants and early-onset variants of Alzheimer’s disease have been previously reported, but no diagnostic criteria exist for a progressive dysexecutive syndrome. In this retrospective review, we report on 55 participants diagnosed with a clinically defined progressive dysexecutive syndrome with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography and Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers available. Sixty-two per cent of participants were female with a mean of 15.2 years of education. The mean age of reported symptom onset was 53.8 years while the mean age at diagnosis was 57.2 years. Participants and informants commonly referred to initial cognitive symptoms as ‘memory problems’ but upon further inquiry described problems with core executive functions of working memory, cognitive flexibility and cognitive inhibitory control. Multi-domain cognitive impairment was evident in neuropsychological testing with executive dysfunction most consistently affected. The frontal and parietal regions which overlap with working memory networks consistently demonstrated hypometabolism on positron emission tomography. Genetic testing for autosomal dominant genes was negative in all eight participants tested and at least one APOE ε4 allele was present in 14/26 participants tested. EEG was abnormal in 14/17 cases with 13 described as diffuse slowing. Furthermore, CSF or neuroimaging biomarkers were consistent with Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology, although CSF p-tau was normal in 24% of cases. Fifteen of the executive predominate participants enrolled in research neuroimaging protocols and were compared to amnestic (n = 110), visual (n = 18) and language (n = 7) predominate clinical phenotypes of Alzheimer’s disease. This revealed a consistent pattern of hypometabolism in parieto-frontal brain regions supporting executive functions with relative sparing of the medial temporal lobe (versus amnestic phenotype), occipital (versus visual phenotype) and left temporal (versus language phenotype). We propose that this progressive dysexecutive syndrome should be recognized as a distinct clinical phenotype disambiguated from behavioural presentations and not linked specifically to the frontal lobe or a particular anatomic substrate without further study. This clinical presentation can be due to Alzheimer’s disease but is likely not specific for any single aetiology. Diagnostic criteria are proposed to facilitate additional research into this understudied clinical presentation.

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease can present clinically with either the typical amnestic phenotype or with atypical phenotypes, such as logopenic progressive aphasia and posterior cortical atrophy. We have recently described longitudinal patterns of flortaucipir PET uptake and grey matter atrophy in the atypical phenotypes, demonstrating a longitudinal regional disconnect between flortaucipir accumulation and brain atrophy. However, it is unclear how these longitudinal patterns differ from typical Alzheimer’s disease, to what degree flortaucipir and atrophy mirror clinical phenotype in Alzheimer’s disease, and whether optimal longitudinal neuroimaging biomarkers would also differ across phenotypes. We aimed to address these unknowns using a cohort of 57 participants diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (18 with typical amnestic Alzheimer’s disease, 17 with posterior cortical atrophy and 22 with logopenic progressive aphasia) that had undergone baseline and 1-year follow-up MRI and flortaucipir PET. Typical Alzheimer’s disease participants were selected to be over 65 years old at baseline scan, while no age criterion was used for atypical Alzheimer’s disease participants. Region and voxel-level rates of tau accumulation and atrophy were assessed relative to 49 cognitively unimpaired individuals and among phenotypes. Principal component analysis was implemented to describe variability in baseline tau uptake and rates of accumulation and baseline grey matter volumes and rates of atrophy across phenotypes. The capability of the principal components to discriminate between phenotypes was assessed with logistic regression. The topography of longitudinal tau accumulation and atrophy differed across phenotypes, with key regions of tau accumulation in the frontal and temporal lobes for all phenotypes and key regions of atrophy in the occipitotemporal regions for posterior cortical atrophy, left temporal lobe for logopenic progressive aphasia and medial and lateral temporal lobe for typical Alzheimer’s disease. Principal component analysis identified patterns of variation in baseline and longitudinal measures of tau uptake and volume that were significantly different across phenotypes. Baseline tau uptake mapped better onto clinical phenotype than longitudinal tau and MRI measures. Our study suggests that optimal longitudinal neuroimaging biomarkers for future clinical treatment trials in Alzheimer’s disease are different for MRI and tau-PET and may differ across phenotypes, particularly for MRI. Baseline tau tracer retention showed the highest fidelity to clinical phenotype, supporting the important causal role of tau as a driver of clinical dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease.

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the relationships between MRI volumetry and [18F]flortaucipir PET of typical and atypical clinical phenotypes of Alzheimer’s disease, by genarian (age by decade).MethodsFive‐hundred and sixty‐four participants including those with typical (n = 86) or atypical (n = 80) Alzheimer’s dementia and normal controls (n = 398) underwent apolipoprotein E genotyping, MRI, flortaucipir, and 11C‐PiB; all 166 Alzheimer’s participants were beta‐amyloid positive and all controls were beta‐amyloid negative. Grey matter volume and flortaucipir standard uptake value ratios were calculated for hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and neocortex. Ratios of hippocampal‐to‐neocortical and entorhinal‐to‐neocortical volume and flortaucipir uptake were also calculated. Linear regression models assessed relationships among regional volume, flortaucipir uptake, and ratios and phenotypes, within three genarians (50–59, 60–69, and 70+). Voxel‐level analyses were also performed.ResultsFor 50–59 greater medial temporal atrophy and flortaucipir uptake was observed in the typical compared with atypical phenotype. The typical phenotype also showed greater frontal neocortex uptake with the voxel‐level analysis. For 60–69 and 70+ there was greater hippocampal volume loss in the typical compared with atypical phenotype while only the 60–69, but not the 70+ group, showed a difference in hippocampal flortaucipir uptake. We also observed a pattern for higher neocortical flortaucipir uptake to correlate with younger age decade for both phenotypes.InterpretationMRI volumetry versus flortaucipir PET relationships differ across Alzheimer’s clinical phenotypes, and also within phenotype across age decades. This suggests that there is potential risk of masked effects by not accounting for genarian in participants with beta‐amyloid and tau‐positive biomarker defined Alzheimer’s disease.

AbstractAmong individuals with dementia with Lewy bodies, pathologic correlates of clinical course include the presence and extent of coexisting Alzheimer’s pathology and the presence of transitional or diffuse Lewy body disease. The objectives of this study are to determine (i) whether 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET signature patterns of dementia with Lewy bodies are associated with the extent of coexisting Alzheimer’s pathology and the presence of transitional or diffuse Lewy body disease and (ii) whether these 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose pattern(s) are associated with clinical course in dementia with Lewy bodies. Two groups of participants were included: a pathology-confirmed subset with Lewy body disease (n = 34) and a clinically diagnosed group of dementia with Lewy bodies (n = 87). A subset of the clinically diagnosed group was followed longitudinally (n = 51). We evaluated whether 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET features of dementia with Lewy bodies (higher cingulate island sign ratio and greater occipital hypometabolism) varied by Lewy body disease subtype (transitional versus diffuse) and Braak neurofibrillary tangle stage. We investigated whether the PET features were associated with the clinical trajectories by performing regression models predicting Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes. Among autopsied participants, there was no difference in cingulate island sign or occipital hypometabolism by Lewy body disease type, but those with a lower Braak tangle stage had a higher cingulate island sign ratio compared to those with a higher Braak tangle stage. Among the clinically diagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies participants, a higher cingulate island ratio was associated with better cognitive scores at baseline and longitudinally. A higher 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET cingulate island sign ratio was associated with lower Braak tangle stage at autopsy, predicted a better clinical trajectory in dementia with Lewy body patients and may allow for improved prognostication of the clinical course in this disease.

AbstractIntroductionBehavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) may present sporadically or due to an autosomal dominant mutation. Characterization of both forms will improve understanding of the generalizability of assessments and treatments.MethodsA total of 135 sporadic (s‐bvFTD; mean age 63.3 years; 34% female) and 99 familial (f‐bvFTD; mean age 59.9; 48% female) bvFTD participants were identified. f‐bvFTD cases included 43 with known or presumed chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72) gene expansions, 28 with known or presumed microtubule‐associated protein tau (MAPT) mutations, 14 with known progranulin (GRN) mutations, and 14 with a strong family history of FTD but no identified mutation.ResultsParticipants with f‐bvFTD were younger and had earlier age at onset. s‐bvFTD had higher total Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI‐Q) scores due to more frequent endorsement of depression and irritability.Discussionf‐bvFTD and s‐bvFTD cases are clinically similar, suggesting the generalizability of novel biomarkers, therapies, and clinical tools developed in either form to the other.

AbstractIntroductionWe created global rating scoring rules for the CDR® plus NACC FTLD to detect and track early frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and to conduct clinical trials in FTLD.MethodsThe CDR plus NACC FTLD rating was applied to 970 sporadic and familial participants from the baseline visit of Advancing Research and Treatment in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ARTFL)/Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects (LEFFTDS). Each of the eight domains of the CDR plus NACC FTLD was equally weighed in determining the global score. An interrater reliability study was completed for 40 participants.ResultsThe CDR plus NACC FTLD showed very good interrater reliability. It was especially useful in detecting clinical features of mild non‐fluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia participants.DiscussionThe global CDR plus NACC FTLD score could be an attractive outcome measure for clinical trials in symptomatic FTLD, and may be useful in natural history studies and clinical trials in FTLD spectrum disorders.