Understanding two types of progressive speech disorders

Is this trial a fit for you?

A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.

What this trial studies

This study aims to identify and differentiate between two distinct types of Progressive Apraxia of Speech (PAOS) using clinical imaging and testing. It focuses on patients with progressive speech impairment, examining their speech patterns to determine if they exhibit Phonetic PAOS or Prosodic PAOS. The research seeks to understand the neurobiological underpinnings of these speech disorders, which can be early indicators of neurodegenerative diseases. By analyzing the characteristics of these speech patterns, the study hopes to provide insights into their prognostic implications.

Why it matters

Who can join: the full rules

Inclusion Criteria:

1. All enrolled patients must be over the age of 18, speak English as their primary language, and have an informant who can provide an independent evaluation of functioning.
2. Each new patient must present with a chief complaint of progressive impairment of speech and must have evidence of AOS documented by a speech-language pathologist during routine clinical evaluation.
3. At study entry, all patients must have speech sufficiently intelligible for a confident diagnosis of AOS, dysarthria, and/or aphasia, and for acoustic analysis.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Any patient whose speech is not intelligible enough for confident speech-language diagnosis will be excluded from the study.
2. All patients with concurrent illnesses that could account for speech deficits (e.g., traumatic brain injury, strokes, developmental syndromes), and patients meeting criteria for another neurodegenerative disease (e.g., Alzheimer's type dementia57), will be excluded.
3. Patients with aphasia or dysarthria who do not have PAOS, or whose aphasia or dysarthria at study entry is more severe than PAOS, will be excluded.
4. All women who are pregnant, or post-partum and breast-feeding, will be excluded as they are unable to undergo the required imaging. All women who can become pregnant must have a pregnancy test no more than 48 hours before the DaTscan.
5. Patients will also be excluded if MRI is contraindicated (e.g., metal in head, cardiac pace maker), if there is severe claustrophobia, if there are conditions that may confound brain imaging studies (e.g. structural abnormalities, including subdural hematoma or intracranial neoplasm), or if they are medically unstable or are on medications that might affect brain structure or metabolism (e.g. chemotherapy).
6. Patients will be excluded if they do not have an informant, or do not consent to the research.

Where it's running

• Mayo Clinic
  Rochester, Minnesota, United States Recruiting

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Keith Josephs, MD — Mayo Clinic
• Study coordinator: Sarah M Boland, CCRP
• Email: boland.sarah@mayo.edu
• Phone: 507-284-3863

Similar studies

Other studies for the same condition or treatment. Recruiting studies are listed first.

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How to take part

1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
2. Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
3. Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.