Clinical Features and Therapeutic Approaches of Frontotemporal Dementia.
- Author:
Kang Joon LEE
1
Author Information
1. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Ilsan, Korea. lkj@paik.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
Frontotemporal dementia;
Semantic dementia;
Progressive nonfluent aphasia
- MeSH:
Antipsychotic Agents;
Atrophy;
Behavioral Symptoms;
Brain;
Cholinesterase Inhibitors;
Dementia;
Frontotemporal Dementia;
Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration;
Humans;
Memory;
Motor Neuron Disease;
Neurobehavioral Manifestations;
Pick Disease of the Brain;
Primary Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia;
Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors;
Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive;
Temporal Lobe
- From:Journal of Korean Geriatric Psychiatry
2012;16(2):67-74
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), formerly called Pick's disease, is a progressive dementia that is associated with focal atrophy of the frontal and/or temporal lobes. FTD has three major clinical subtypes ; 1) a frontal variant of frontotemporal dementia (fvFTD), 2) semantic dementia (SD), and 3) progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA). These different variants differ in their clinical symptoms, cognitive deficits, and affected brain regions. The insidious onset of personality changes and behavioral abnormalities is the most prominent feature of fvFTD. Poor insight, loss of personal and social awareness, and blunting of affect are common behavioral changes in fvFTD. The most common presenting complaint in SD involves language, and is often described as a loss of memory for words or a loss of word meaning. Patients with PNFA present with changes in fluency, pronunciation, or word finding difficulty. An accumulating body of evidence suggests that FTD overlaps with three other neurodegenerative diseases: motor neuron disease (MND), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Treatment for FTD consists of behavioral and pharmacological approaches. Medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics have used in FTD. Cholinesterase inhibitors do not consistently improve cognitive and behavioral symptoms of FTD. Further research should be directed at developing new therapeutic methods to improve the patients' symptoms.
