Primary Progressive Aphasia

—Clinical Assessment and Intervention Strategies—

Abstract

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by insidious and progressive loss of language. In this paper, the concept of PPA and current clinical diagnosis criteria (Gorno-Tempini, et al., 2011) are briefly explained, followed by a description of two cases of nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA who received treatment. Case 1 was followed for symptom changes over a long period, and diagnosed as corticobasal degeneration by postmortem examination. Case 2 received treatment for naming deficits, and its effects were investigated. Results showed immediate improvement of naming and maintenance of treated words in a short period, but no generalization to untreated words. Although the effects of treatment were limited, daily communication and living activities improved. Finally, methods for clinical assessment are described and intervention strategies and their respective significances are discussed.