title: Suicide risk in frontotemporal lobe degeneration: to be considered, to be prevented.
abstract: Suicide is difficult to ascertain in elderly patients, and dementia might represent a risk factor, though predictors of suicide in dementia are still unknown. We report the case of a patient recently diagnosed as having a behavioral variant of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), apathetic syndrome, who committed suicide by hanging. His personal and family history was negative for mental disorders; a depressive syndrome was diagnosed 1 year before FTLD diagnosis, and treated unsuccessfully. To the best of our knowledge, no data are available about self-harmful events in FTLD. This case report argues for the urgent need for developing specific tools for the assessment of suicidal ideation among at-risk population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Brescia, Italy. antoalberici@yahoo.it
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberici
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cottini
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cosseddu
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borroni
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Padovani
mesh_terms: D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D000092864:Suicide Prevention