Aims and objectives Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) represents the second most common early onset of neurodegenerative dementia in those less than 65 years of age [1]. The overlap between different kinds of Frontotemporal dementia is variable, constituting a source of uncertainty that clinicians would wish to rule out. FTLD is associated with several clinical syndromes involving behavior, language, and motor function. The main syndromes encompassed by the clinical term Frontotemporal dementia are behavioral variant of Frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) and...

Brain MRI exams of 65 patients (54.5% males and 45.5% females) were evaluated with different subtypes of Frontotemporal dementia (behavioral variant n=41, semantic dementia n=16, progressive non fluent aphasia n=8). Mean age (±SD) was 65.9 (±10.9) years, mean age at first evaluation 66.1(±10.9), mean disease duration was 3.4 (±2.2) years and educational level, as expressed with school years was 11.1 (±4.3). 96,8% of the population were right handed. A population of 40 controls, matched for age and educational level, was also assessed. Double blinded visual...

Corresponding analyses between disease groups gave significant differences between patients with bvFTD versus patients with svPPA in the orbitofrontal cortex (2.44 ±1.1 vs. 1.9±1; p=0.009) and anterior cingulate cortex (for right: 2.1±0.9 vs. 1.3±1, p=0.004 and for left: 2±0.9 vs. 1.1±0.8, p=0.003). Anterior temporal atrophy was significant in patients with semantic variant. The semantic dementia variant had a characteristic pattern of loss, typically left rather than right involving the anterior temporal pole (fig 1). These atrophy patterns correlate well with quantitative MRI methods, such as...

FTLD is a clinically and pathologically heterogeneous spectrum of disorders. Clinical diagnosis of the cause of cognitive complaints can be difficult. Nonetheless accurate and timely diagnosis is increasingly important to guide management and to provide appropriate information and support. In the last few years, neuroimaging has contributed to the phenotypic characterization of these patients. Structural imaging in cognitive cases can provide easily accessible, clinically useful information. It is the primary neuroimaging technique of choice in clinical practice to support the clinical diagnosis of dementia. Visual...

Manouvelou Stamo1,2, Gouliamos Athanasios2, Koutoulidis George2, Anyfantakis George1,2, Papageorgiou Socratis1 12nd Department of Neurology, Attikon University Hospital, 1 Rimini Str, GR-12462, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece 21st Department of Radiology, University of Athens Medical School Manouvelou Stamo MD, M.Sc. is a Consultant Radiologist and PhD candidate at the University of Athens. Dr Manouvelou is completing her PhD thesis in neuroimaging in dementia and was awarded a Fellowship of excellence for postgraduate studies in Greece-Siemens program.

1. RabinoviciGD, MillerBL(2010) Frontotemporal lobar degeneration: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. CNS Drugs24:375-98. 2. RabinovicGD,Seeley WW, Kim EJ et al. (2008) Distinct MRI atrophy patterns in autopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen 22:474-88. 3. Tartaglia (2012) Frontotemporal lobar Degeneration. Clin N Am 22 (2012) 83-97. 4. Davies RR,Scahill VL,Graham A et al.(2009) Development of an MRI rating scale for multiple brain regions: comparison with volumetrics and with voxel-based morphometry. Neuroradiology 51:491-503. 5. ScheltensF, Pasquier P, Wees JG et...