Primary progressive oral apraxia: a ten year long follow-up case report

Orofacial apraxia (OA) as the main symptom in neurodegenerative disorders has not been yet reported. We present the case of a woman with a 22-month long history of isolated OA, studied with cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and repeated clinical, neuropsychological, and morpho-functional evaluations. Baseline morpho-functional neuroimages revealed a left frontal operculum hypoperfusion with a widespread fronto-temporal involvement at follow-up. Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of tau and amyloid-β were normal. The ten-year long clinical observation disclosed progressive OA worsening and the late onset of frontal functions impairment and extrapyramidal signs. The early and late stages of a neurodegenerative syndrome with OA as the main clinical feature were characterized.