Pure word deafness in a patient with early-onset Alzheimer's disease: an unusual presentation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The occurrence of PWD in neurodegenerative disease is very rare, and this is the first report of it being related to early-onset AD. We describe a patient with early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) who presented with pure word deafness (PWD).

CASE REPORT: The patient had experienced PWD for 2 years, followed by other cognitive deficits suggestive of parietotemporal dysfunction. Brain imaging including (18)FDG-PET and [(11)C] PIB-PET supported the diagnosis of AD.

CONCLUSIONS

Our case highlights the clinical variability that characterizes early-onset AD.