Early pathological gambling in co-occurrence with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia: a case report

Abstract

Petronilla Battista,1,2 Rosa Capozzo,2 Giovanni Rizzo,3,4 Chiara Zecca,2 Antonio Anastasia,5 Roberto De Blasi,6 Giancarlo Logroscino2,71Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri-SPA SB. I.R.C.C.S. Institute of Cassano Murge, Bari, Italy; 2Neurodegenerative Disease Unit, Department of Clinical Research in Neurology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, “Pia Fondazione Cardinale G. Panico”, Tricase, Italy; 3UOC Clinica Neurologica, IRCCS Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 4Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 5Department of Nuclear Medicine, Pia Fondazione di Culto e Religione “Card.G.Panico”, Tricase, Italy; 6Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Pia Fondazione di Culto e Religione “Card.G.Panico”, Tricase, Italy; 7Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyAbstract: We have comprehensively documented a case of semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (sv-PPA) presenting with early-onset pathological gambling (PG). While a growing number of studies have shown the presence of behavioral alterations in patients with sv-PPA, PG has been observed only in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bv-FTD). To date, no case of PG with the co-occurrence of prominent semantic deficits at the onset of the disease has been reported in the literature. Impulse disorders at onset may wrongly lead to a misdiagnosis (ie, psychiatric disorders). Therefore, a wider characterization of cognitive/aphasia symptoms in patients presenting impulse disorders and predominant language dysfunctions is recommended.Keywords: impulse disorders, language disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, semantic dementia

Keywords

• impulse disorders
• language disorders
• neurodegenerative diseases
• semantic dementia