Slowly progressive dysarthria (pseudobulbar palsy) in primary lateral sclerosis

Introduction: A slowly progressive dysarthria may be differentiated in bulbar and pseudobulbar palsy due to their auditive speech characteristics, absence or presence of tongue atrophy and fasciculations, masseter reflex intensity and further accompanying signs. Results: We report on three patients with a slowly progressive dysarthria as single sign of primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) over 8, 11, and 17 years. Clinically and due to the neurophysiological findings (abnormal responses of the tongue on transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motorcortex) the criteria of PLS were fulfilled. Additionally, the Awaji-S…