1 Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3W 1W5, Canada.
2 Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada.
3 Centre de Recherche de l'IUGM, Montreal, QC H3W 1W6, Canada.
4 Département de Réadaptation, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada.
5 McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
6 Concordia University, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada.
7 Centre de Recherche CERVO (CERVO Brain Research Centre), Quebec, QC G1J 2G3, Canada.

Background: Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a clinico-radiological syndrome characterized by a progressive decline in visuospatial/visuoperceptual processing. PCA is accompanied by the impairment of other cognitive functions, including language abilities.

Methods: The present study focused on three patients presenting with language complaints and a clinical profile that was compatible with PCA. In addition to neurological and neuroimaging examinations, they were assessed with comprehensive batteries of neuropsychological and neurolinguistic tests.

Results: The general medical profile of the three patients is consistent with PCA, although they presented with confounding factors, making diagnosis less clear. The cognitive profile of the three patients was marked by Balint and Gerstmann's syndromes as well as impairments affecting executive functions, short-term and working memory, visuospatial and visuoperceptual abilities, and sensorimotor execution abilities. Their language ability was characterized by word-finding difficulties and impairments of sentence comprehension, sentence repetition, verbal fluency, narrative speech, reading, and writing.

Conclusions: This study confirmed that PCA is marked by visuospatial and visuoperceptual deficits and reported evidence of primary and secondary language impairments in the three patients. The similarities of some of their language impairments with those found in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia is discussed from neurolinguistic and neuroanatomical points of view.