Word list learning in patients with polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy

Polycystic lipomembranous osteodysplasia with sclerosing leukoencephalopathy (PLOSL) is a rare hereditary disease that is characterized by a combination of progressive presenile dementia and sclerosing leukoencephalopathy with bone cysts. No quantitative information on verbal memory functioning in PLOSL patients compared with control subjects is available.

23 patients with PLOSL and 23 control subjects were examined with a version of the 10-word list-learning task. Learning curves were compared between the patients and the matched control subjects.

Compared with the control subjects, PLOSL patients with moderate or severe dementia were impaired in both learning trials and delayed recall on the 10-word list-learning test.

Progressive degeneration of brain structures affecting the hippocampus and the medial temporal lobe with advanced PLOSL disease contributes to an inefficient verbal learning process.