Frontotemporal dementia.
In this case study, we describe the symptoms, neuropsychological testing, and brain pathology of a man with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). FTD most often presents with either a change in personality or behavior, such as social withdrawal, increased gregariousness, disinhibition, or obsessive behaviors; or with impairment of language function. Memory difficulties are common, but usually are less prominent than these other symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Frequently, psychiatric diagnoses are initially the primary consideration. Cases may be either familial or sporadic. In this familial case, an autopsy was ultimately performed and revealed findings characteristic of FTD, with grossly evident focal brain degeneration in the frontal and temporal regions, microscopic signs of gliosis, and cellular abnormalities of the intracellular microtubule-associated protein tau.
Honig
Lawrence S
LS
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, and the Department of Neurology, New York, NY 10032, USA. lh456@columbia.edu
Bell
Karen
K
Chin
Steven S
SS
D017668:Age of Onset; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D000077265:Donepezil; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010551:Personality; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D007189:Indans; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D016875:tau Proteins; D000077265:Donepezil