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Primary progressive aphasia: clinicopathological correlations
Grossman M.. Nature reviews. Neurology, 2010-02-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a disorder of declining language that is a frequent presentation of neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Three variants of PPA are recognized: progressive nonfluent aphasia, semantic dementia, and logopenic progressive aphasia. In an era of etiology-specific treatments for neurodegenerative conditions, determining the histopathological basis of PPA is crucial. Clinicopathological correlations in PPA emphasize the contributory role of dementia with Pick bodies and other tauopathies, TDP-43 proteinopathies, and Alzheimer disease. These data suggest an association between a specific PPA variant and an underlying pathology, although many cases of PPA are associated with an unexpected pathology. Neuroimaging and biofluid biomarkers are now emerging as important adjuncts to clinical diagnosis. There is great hope that the addition of biomarker assessments to careful clinical examination will enable accurate diagnosis of the pathology associated with PPA during a patient's life, and that such findings will serve as the basis for clinical trials in this spectrum of disease.
Key findings
- These data suggest an association between a specific PPA variant and an underlying pathology, although many cases of PPA are associated with an unexpected pathology.
- There is great hope that the addition of biomarker assessments to careful clinical examination will enable accurate diagnosis of the pathology associated with PPA during a patient's life, and that such findings will serve as the basis for clinical trials in this spectrum of disease.
Why it matters
This review describes that primary progressive aphasia is a frequent presentation of neurodegenerative diseases and that specific variants are associated with underlying pathologies, although many cases have unexpected pathology. It expresses hope that adding biomarker assessments to clinical examination will enable accurate diagnosis during life and serve as a basis for clinical trials.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 47/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Nature reviews. Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Nature Reviews Neurology: journal h-index 269 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 417 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 23.2 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 23 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 39 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Murray Grossman: h-index 30 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Pennsylvania: institution h-index 1,859 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20139998) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 47 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Grossman, M. (2010). Primary progressive aphasia: clinicopathological correlations. Nature reviews. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2009.216
Vancouver
Grossman M. Primary progressive aphasia: clinicopathological correlations. Nature reviews. Neurology. 2010. doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2009.216. PMID: 20139998.
BibTeX
@article{grossman2010-20139998,
author = {Grossman, M.},
title = {{Primary progressive aphasia: clinicopathological correlations}},
journal = {Nature reviews. Neurology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1038/nrneurol.2009.216},
pmid = {20139998},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2009.216}
}
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