Progressive supranuclear palsy | |
---|---|
Other names | Steele–Richardson–Olszewski syndrome, frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism |
MRI demonstrating the hummingbird sign of supranuclear palsy due to atrophy of the midbrain | |
Specialty | Neurology |
Symptoms | Impaired balance, slowed movements, difficulty moving eyes, dementia |
Usual onset | 60–70 years |
Causes | Unknown |
Differential diagnosis | Parkinson's disease, corticobasal degeneration, FTDP-17, Alzheimer's disease |
Treatment | Medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy |
Medication | Levodopa, amantadine |
Prognosis | Fatal (usually 7–10 years after diagnosis) |
Frequency | 6 per 100,000 |
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. [1] [2] The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty moving the eyes, and cognitive impairment. [1] PSP may be mistaken for other types of neurodegeneration such as Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The cause of the condition is uncertain, but involves the accumulation of tau protein within the brain. Medications such as levodopa and amantadine may be useful in some cases. [1]
PSP affects about six people per 100,000. [1] The first symptoms typically occur at 60–70 years of age. Males are slightly more likely to be affected than females. [1] No association has been found between PSP and any particular race, location, or occupation. [1]
The initial symptoms in two-thirds of cases are loss of balance, lunging forward when mobilizing, fast walking, bumping into objects or people, and falls. [3] [ citation needed ] Dementia symptoms are also initially seen in about one in five cases. [4]
Other common early symptoms are changes in personality, general slowing of movement, and visual symptoms. The most common behavioural symptoms in patients with PSP include apathy, a lack of inhibition, anxiety, and a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. [4]
Later symptoms and signs can include, but do not necessarily include dementia (typically including loss of inhibition and ability to organize information), slurring of speech, difficulty swallowing, and difficulty moving the eyes, particularly in the vertical direction. The latter accounts for some of the falls experienced by these patients, as they find it difficult to look up or down. [5]
Some of the other signs are poor eyelid function, contracture of the facial muscles, a backward tilt of the head with stiffening of the neck muscles, sleep disruption, urinary incontinence, and constipation. [5] Some patients retain full cognitive function up to the end.[ citation needed ]
The visual symptoms are of particular importance in the diagnosis of this disorder. Patients typically complain of difficulty reading due to the inability to look downwards. The ophthalmoparesis experienced by these patients mainly concerns voluntary eye movement and the inability to make vertical saccades, which is often worse with downward saccades. Patients tend to have difficulty looking down (a downgaze palsy) followed by the addition of an upgaze palsy. This vertical gaze paresis will correct when the examiner passively rolls the patient's head up and down as part of a test for the oculocephalic reflex. Involuntary eye movement, as elicited by Bell's phenomenon, for instance, may be closer to normal.[ citation needed ]
On close inspection, eye movements called "square-wave jerks" may be visible when the patient fixes gaze at distance. These are fine movements, that can be mistaken for nystagmus, except that they are saccadic in nature, with no smooth phase. Although healthy individuals also make square-wave jerk movements, PSP patients make slower square-wave jerk movements, with smaller vertical components. [6] Assessment of these square-wave jerks and diminished vertical saccades is especially useful for diagnosing progressive supranuclear palsy, because these movements set PSP patients apart from other parkinsonian patients. [6] Difficulties with convergence (convergence insufficiency), where the eyes come closer together while focusing on something near, like the pages of a book, is typical. Because the eyes have trouble coming together to focus at short distances, the patient may complain of diplopia (double vision) when reading. [5]
A characteristic facial appearance known as procerus sign, with a wide-eye stare, furrowing of forehead with a frowning expression, and deepening of other facial creases, is also diagnostic of PSP. [7]
The cause of PSP is unknown. Fewer than 1% of those with PSP have a family member with the same disorder. A variant in the gene for tau protein called the H1 haplotype, located on chromosome 17 (rs1800547), has been linked to PSP. [8] Nearly all people with PSP received a copy of that variant from each parent, but this is true of about two-thirds of the general population. Therefore, the H1 haplotype appears to be necessary but not sufficient to cause PSP. Other genes, as well as environmental toxins, are being investigated as other possible contributors to the cause of PSP. [9]
Additionally, the H2 haplotype, combined with vascular dysfunction, seems to be a factor of vascular progressive supranuclear palsy. [10]
Besides tauopathy, mitochondrial dysfunction seems to be a factor involved in PSP. Especially, mitochondrial complex I inhibitors (such as acetogenins and quinolines contained in Annonaceae plants, as well as rotenoids) are implicated in PSP-like brain injuries. [11]
The affected brain cells are both neurons and glial cells. The neurons display neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are clumps of tau protein, a normal part of a brain cell's internal structural skeleton. These tangles are often different from those seen in Alzheimer's disease, but may be structurally similar when they occur in the cerebral cortex. [12] Their chemical composition is usually different, however, and is similar to that of tangles seen in corticobasal degeneration. [13] Tufts of tau protein in astrocytes, or tufted astrocytes, are also considered diagnostic. Unlike globose NFTs, they may be more widespread in the cortex. [14] Lewy bodies are seen in some cases, but whether this is a variant or an independent co-existing process is not clear, and in some cases, PSP can coexist with corticobasal degeneration, Parkinson's, and/or Alzheimer's disease, particularly with older patients. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
The principal areas of the brain affected are the:[ citation needed ]
Some consider PSP, corticobasal degeneration, and frontotemporal dementia (especially FTDP-17) to be variations of the same disease. [20] [21] Others consider them separate diseases. [22] [23] [24] PSP has been shown occasionally to co-exist with Pick's disease. [25]
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often used to diagnose PSP. MRI may show atrophy in the midbrain with preservation of the pons giving a "hummingbird" sign. [26]
Based on the pathological findings in confirmed cases of PSP, it is divided into the following categories:
Richardson syndrome is characterized by the typical features of PSP. In PSP-P features of Parkinson's Disease overlap with the clinical presentation of PSP and follows a more benign course. In both PSP-P and PSP- PAGF distribution of abnormal tau is relatively restricted to the brain stem. Frontal PSP initially presents with behavioral and cognitive symptoms, with or without ophthalmoparesis and then evolve into typical PSP. [7] The phenotypes of PSP-P and PSP-PAGF are sometimes referred as the "brain stem" variants of PSP, as opposed to the "cortical" variants which present with predominant cortical features, including PSP-CBS, PSP-bvFTD, and PSP-PNFA. [29] Cerebellar ataxia as the predominant early presenting feature is increasingly recognized as a very rare subtype of PSP (PSP-C) which is associated with severe neuronal loss with gliosis and higher densities of coiled bodies in the cerebellar dentate nucleus. [30]
PSP is frequently misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease because they both involve slowed movements and gait difficulty, with PSP being one of a collection of diseases referred to as Parkinson plus syndromes. Both Parkinson's and PSP have an onset in late middle age and involve slowing and rigidity of movement. However, several distinguishing features exist. Tremor is very common with Parkinson's, but rare with PSP. Speech and swallowing difficulties are more common and severe with PSP and the abnormal eye movements of PSP are essentially absent with PD. [31] A poor response to levodopa, along with symmetrical onset can also help differentiate PSP from PD. [32]
Patients with the Richardson variant of PSP tend to have an upright posture or arched back, as opposed to the stooped-forward posture of other Parkinsonian disorders, although PSP-Parkinsonism (see below) can demonstrate a stooped posture. [33] Early falls are also more common with PSP, especially with Richardson syndrome. [34]
PSP can also be misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease because of the behavioral changes. [35]
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) shows many similarities with PSP, because both share the following attributes: [36]
Management is only supportive as no cure for PSP is known. PSP cases are often split into two subgroups, PSP-Richardson (the classic type) and PSP-Parkinsonism, where a short-term response to levodopa can be obtained. [37] Dyskinesia is an occasional but rare complication of treatment. [38] Amantadine is also sometimes helpful. [39] After a few years the Parkinsonian variant tends to take on Richardson features. [40] Other variants have been described. [41] [42] [43] [44] Botox can be used to treat neck dystonia and blepharospasm, but this can aggravate dysphagia. [45]
Two studies have suggested that rivastigmine may help with cognitive aspects, but the authors of both studies have suggested that larger studies are needed. [46] [47] There is some evidence from small-scale studies that the hypnotic zolpidem may improve motor function and eye movements. [48] [49]
Patients with PSP usually seek or are referred to occupational therapy, speech-language pathology for motor speech changes (typically a spastic-ataxic dysarthria), and physical therapy for balance and gait problems with reports of frequent falls. [50] There has been research in the use of robot-assisted gait training. [51] Evidence-based approaches to rehabilitation in PSP are lacking and, currently the majority of research on the subject consists of case reports involving only a small number of patients. [52]
Case reports of rehabilitation programs for patients with PSP generally include limb-coordination activities, tilt-board balancing, gait training, strength training with progressive resistive exercises, and isokinetic exercises and stretching of the neck muscles. [50] While some case reports suggest that physiotherapy can offer improvements in balance and gait of patients with PSP, the results cannot be generalized across all PSP patients, as each case report followed only one or two patients. [50] The observations made from these case studies can be useful however, in helping to guide future research concerning the effectiveness of balance and gait training programs in the management of PSP.[ citation needed ]
Individuals with PSP are often referred to occupational therapists to help manage their condition and to help enhance their independence. This may include being taught to use mobility aids. [53] [54] Due to their tendency to fall backwards, the use of a walker, particularly one that can be weighted in the front, is recommended instead of a cane. [53] The use of an appropriate mobility aid helps to decrease the individual's risk of falls and makes them safer to ambulate independently in the community. [54] Due to their balance problems and irregular movements, individuals need to spend time learning how to safely transfer in their homes and in the community. [53] This may include rising from and sitting in chairs safely. [54]
Due to the progressive nature of this disease, all individuals eventually lose their ability to walk and will need to progress to using a wheelchair. [53] Severe dysphagia often follows, and at this point death is often a matter of months. [37]
No effective treatment or cure has been found for PSP, although some of the symptoms can respond to nonspecific measures. The poor prognosis is predominantly attributed to the serious impact this condition has on the quality of life. [3] The average age at symptoms onset is 63 and survival from onset averages seven years with a wide variance. [55] Pneumonia is a frequent cause of death, often caused by accidental aspiration of food particles. [56]
In 1877, Charcot described a 40-year-old woman who had rigid-akinetic parkinsonism, neck dystonia, dysarthria, and eye-movement problems. In 1951, Chavany and others reported the clinical and pathologic features of a 50-year-old man with a rigid and akinetic form of parkinsonism with postural instability, neck dystonia, dysarthria, and staring gaze. In 1974, the unique frontal lobe cognitive changes of progressive supranuclear palsy: apathy, loss of spontaneity, slowing of thought processes, and loss of executive functions, were first described by Albert and colleagues. [57]
Between 1877 and 1963, 22 well-documented case reports of PSP, although not described as a distinct disorder, had been identified in the literature of neurology. [58] Progressive supranuclear palsy was first described as a distinct disorder by neurologists John Steele, John Richardson, and Jerzy Olszewski in 1963. [1] [59] [60] [61] They recognized the same clinical syndrome in eight patients, and described the autopsy findings in six of them. [59]
There are several organizations around the world that support PSP patients and the research into PSP and related diseases, such as corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA).
In the 2020 American musical comedy-drama television series, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist , the title character's father (Mitch Clarke, played by Peter Gallagher) has PSP. [67]
Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome characterized by tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Both hypokinetic as well as hyperkinetic features are displayed by Parkinsonism. These are the four motor symptoms found in Parkinson's disease (PD) – after which it is named – dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), and many other conditions. This set of symptoms occurs in a wide range of conditions and may have many causes, including neurodegenerative conditions, drugs, toxins, metabolic diseases, and neurological conditions other than PD.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia characterized by changes in sleep, behavior, cognition, movement, and regulation of automatic bodily functions. Memory loss is not always an early symptom. The disease worsens over time and is usually diagnosed when cognitive impairment interferes with normal daily functioning. Together with Parkinson's disease dementia, DLB is one of the two Lewy body dementias. It is a common form of dementia, but the prevalence is not known accurately and many diagnoses are missed. The disease was first described on autopsy by Kenji Kosaka in 1976, and he named the condition several years later.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), also called frontotemporal degeneration disease or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of the brain's frontal and temporal lobes. Men and women appear to be equally affected. FTD generally presents as a behavioral or language disorder with gradual onset. Signs and symptoms tend to appear in late adulthood, typically between the ages of 45 and 65, although it can affect people younger or older than this. Currently, no cure or approved symptomatic treatment for FTD exists, although some off-label drugs and behavioral methods are prescribed.
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, postural instability, autonomic dysfunction and ataxia. This is caused by progressive degeneration of neurons in several parts of the brain including the basal ganglia, inferior olivary nucleus, and cerebellum.
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a pathological process that occurs in frontotemporal dementia. It is characterized by atrophy in the frontal lobe and temporal lobe of the brain, with sparing of the parietal and occipital lobes.
In neurology, semantic dementia (SD), also known as semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of semantic memory in both the verbal and non-verbal domains. However, the most common presenting symptoms are in the verbal domain. Semantic dementia is a disorder of semantic memory that causes patients to lose the ability to match words or images to their meanings. However, it is fairly rare for patients with semantic dementia to develop category specific impairments, though there have been documented cases of it occurring. Typically, a more generalized semantic impairment results from dimmed semantic representations in the brain.
Progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA) is one of three clinical syndromes associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration. PNFA has an insidious onset of language deficits over time as opposed to other stroke-based aphasias, which occur acutely following trauma to the brain. The specific degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes in PNFA creates hallmark language deficits differentiating this disorder from other Alzheimer-type disorders by the initial absence of other cognitive and memory deficits. This disorder commonly has a primary effect on the left hemisphere, causing the symptomatic display of expressive language deficits and sometimes may disrupt receptive abilities in comprehending grammatically complex language.
In neuropathy, primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of neurological syndrome in which language capabilities slowly and progressively become impaired. As with other types of aphasia, the symptoms that accompany PPA depend on what parts of the brain's left hemisphere are significantly damaged. However, unlike most other aphasias, PPA results from continuous deterioration in brain tissue, which leads to early symptoms being far less detrimental than later symptoms.
Parkinson-plus syndromes (PPS) are a group of neurodegenerative diseases featuring the classical features of Parkinson's disease with additional features that distinguish them from simple idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Parkinson-plus syndromes are either inherited genetically or occur sporadically.
Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease involving the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia. CBD symptoms typically begin in people from 50 to 70 years of age, and typical survival before death is eight years. It is characterized by marked disorders in movement and cognition, and is classified as one of the Parkinson plus syndromes. Diagnosis is difficult, as symptoms are often similar to those of other disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and dementia with Lewy bodies, and a definitive diagnosis of CBD can only be made upon neuropathologic examination.
Frontal lobe disorder, also frontal lobe syndrome, is an impairment of the frontal lobe of the brain due to disease or frontal lobe injury. The frontal lobe plays a key role in executive functions such as motivation, planning, social behaviour, and speech production. Frontal lobe syndrome can be caused by a range of conditions including head trauma, tumours, neurodegenerative diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, neurosurgery and cerebrovascular disease. Frontal lobe impairment can be detected by recognition of typical signs and symptoms, use of simple screening tests, and specialist neurological testing.
Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the aggregation of abnormal tau protein. Hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins causes them to dissociate from microtubules and form insoluble aggregates called neurofibrillary tangles. Various neuropathologic phenotypes have been described based on the anatomical regions and cell types involved as well as the unique tau isoforms making up these deposits. The designation 'primary tauopathy' is assigned to disorders where the predominant feature is the deposition of tau protein. Alternatively, diseases exhibiting tau pathologies attributed to different and varied underlying causes are termed 'secondary tauopathies'. Some neuropathologic phenotypes involving tau protein are Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration.
Pseudobulbar palsy is a medical condition characterized by the inability to control facial movements and caused by a variety of neurological disorders. Patients experience difficulty chewing and swallowing, have increased reflexes and spasticity in tongue and the bulbar region, and demonstrate slurred speech, sometimes also demonstrating uncontrolled emotional outbursts.
Frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative tauopathy and Parkinson plus syndrome. FTDP-17 is caused by mutations in the MAPT gene located on the q arm of chromosome 17, and has three cardinal features: behavioral and personality changes, cognitive impairment, and motor symptoms. FTDP-17 was defined during the International Consensus Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1996.
Lytico-bodig (also Lytigo-bodig) disease, Guam disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS-PDC) is a neurodegenerative disease of uncertain etiology endemic to the Chamorro people of the island of Guam in Micronesia. Lytigo and bodig are Chamorro language words for two different manifestations of the same condition. ALS-PDC, a term coined by Asao Hirano and colleagues in 1961, reflects its resemblance to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.
Subcortical dementias includes those diseases which predominantly affects the basal ganglia along with features of cognitive decline.
The applause sign is a behavioural indicator, relevant to neurodegenerative conditions, characterised by a patient’s inability to execute the same number of hand claps as demonstrated by an examiner.
The Krembil Research Institute, formerly known as the Toronto Western Research Institute, is an academic medical research institute in Toronto. It is one of the largest research institutes in Canada focusing on human neurological disease.
Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is a rare, progressive atypical Parkinsonism syndrome and is a tauopathy related to frontotemporal dementia. CBS is typically caused by the deposit of tau proteins forming in different areas of the brain.
The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) is a short screening test to evaluate executive function (EF).