Objective: To describe the demographic, clinical variants, and clinical profile of patients with probable or possible Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)  enrolled in prospective cohorts from Brazil and Argentina.

Background: PSP is a rare neurodegenerative disease characterized by diverse clinical phenotypes. While prior studies have described its epidemiology and clinical profile in European, North American, and Asian cohorts, there is a critical gap in studies evaluating these aspects in Latin America.

Method: Two prospective cohort studies of patients with probable or possible PSP were conducted with systematic epidemiological and clinical investigation. Demography, clinical variants, clinical measures, and lifestyle exposures were collected.

Results: Among 96 participants (mean age 72.79 ± 8.41 years; 52.1% male), the sample was predominantly of white/European ancestry (47.6%) and Latino/Hispanic ethnicity (40.5%), with smaller proportions of mixed-race (9.5%), African descendant (1.2%), and asian ancestry (1.2%). Mean disease duration was 5.52 ± 2.41 years. Six distinct PSP phenotypes were identified. PSP-Richardson Syndrome (PSP-RS) was the most frequent variant (41.1%), followed by PSP-Corticobasal Syndrome (PSP-CBS, 18.9%), PSP-Predominant Gait Freezing (PSP-PGF, 14.4%), PSP-Parkinsonism (PSP-P, 10.0%), PSP-Speech/Language (PSP-SL, 7.8%), PSP-Postural Instability (PSP-PI, 6.7%), and PSP-Ocular Motor (PSP-OM, 1.1%) [Figure 1]. Mean PSP-Rating Scale score was 46.66 ± 16.38, reflecting moderate-to-severe disease burden. In the subgroup with full neuropsychological assessment (n=23), the mean MMSE was 23.30 ± 5.09, and the mean Frontal Assessment Battery was 9.04 ± 4.80. Mean Schwab & England Activities of Daily Living was 48.70 ± 27.52%, consistent with substantial functional impairment. Smoking history was present in 56.5% of the assessed subgroup, and coffee consumption in 86.4%.

Conclusion: The LatAM PSP Consortium represents one of the first prospective multicentre cohorts characterizing PSP in Latin America. In preliminary results, the phenotypic distribution, with PSP-RS predominating but non-RS variants comprising over half of cases, underscores the clinical heterogeneity in this population. The representation of Latino/Hispanic and mixed race participants highlights the need to address regional disparities to better understand PSP progression, genetic architecture, and biomarker profiles.

Figure 1

References: 1. Höglinger GU, Respondek G, Stamelou M, et al; Movement Disorder Society-endorsed PSP Study Group. Clinical diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy: The movement disorder society criteria. Mov Disord. 2017 Jun;32(6):853-864
2. Kukkle PL, Neupane R, Pantelyat A, et al; MDS‐PSP Study Group. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy-A Global Review. Mov Disord Clin Pract. 2025

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