title: Making the diagnosis of frontotemporal lobar degeneration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autopsy evaluation of the brain of a patient with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) can be daunting to the general pathologist. At some point in their training, most pathologists learn about Pick disease, and can recognize Pick bodies, the morphologic hallmark of Pick disease. Pick disease is a type of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), the general category of pathologic process underlying most cases of FTD. The 2 major categories of pathologic FTLD are tauopathies (FTLD-tau) and ubiquitinopathies (FTLD-U). Pick disease is one of the FTLD-tau subtypes and is termed FTLD-tau (PiD).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To "demystify" FTLDs, and to demonstrate that subtypes of FTLD-tau and FTLD-U can be easily determined by following a logical, stepwise, histochemical, and immunohistochemical investigation of the FTD autopsy brain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Previously published peer-reviewed articles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The hope is that this article will be a useful reference for the general pathologist faced with performing a brain autopsy on a decedent with frontotemporal dementia.
authors: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. e-bigio@northwestern.edu
authors: Eileen H
authors: EH
authors: Bigio
mesh_terms: D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans