Leukoaraiosis Severity Predicts Rate of Decline in Primary Progressive Aphasia.
Adam Odolil, Amy E Wright, Lynsey M Keator and 4 others
PMID 32377026WHAT IT FOUND
More severe baseline white matter changes were associated with faster one-year naming decline in 29 people with primary progressive aphasia.
This may help SLPs discuss prognosis, but it does not show treatment will slow decline.
Key findings
01Baseline leukoaraiosis severity independently predicted faster naming decline over about one year in 29 people with PPA.
02Moderate-to-severe leukoaraiosis was associated with faster naming decline than minimal-to-mild leukoaraiosis.
03Sex, PPA variant, and speech-language treatment were not associated with outcome.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 29 participants were analysed; 65 of a larger study of 94 participants were excluded because they lacked baseline T2 sequences or one-year follow-up. No measures of atrophy were collected, so the study cannot show that leukoaraiosis effects are independent of cortical atrophy. Change in naming scores was the only measure of progression used. The study had inadequate power to assess leukoaraiosis effects within each PPA variant separately, and likely inadequate numbers to assess sex or PPA variant effects. Leukoaraiosis was rated only at baseline, although among participants with repeat imaging at one year its CHS rating did not change.
Declared interests
The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that leukoaraiosis causes faster naming decline or that treating vascular risk will slow primary progressive aphasia. This study found an association in 29 people, and it did not test any intervention.