Updated: Feb 11, 2009
The presentation of degenerative disease in focal areas of the cerebral cortex is the hallmark of the family of diseases called frontotemporal dementia. Cases of elderly patients with progressive language deterioration have been described since Arnold Pick's landmark case report of 1892. His case study, "On the relationship between aphasia and senile atrophy of the brain", still serves as a frame of reference for apparently focal brain syndromes in diffuse or generalized degenerative diseases of the brain.[1 ]As Pick stated, “simple progressive brain atrophy can lead to symptoms of local disturbance through local accentuation of the diffuse process.”
In 1982, Mesulam reported 6 patients with progressive aphasia, gradually worsening over a number of years, who did not develop a more generalized dementia.[2 ]Since Mesulam's publication, numerous other cases have been reported. This disorder, which is currently termed primary progressive aphasia (PPA), has gained acceptance as a syndrome. Subsequently, the primary progressive aphasia syndrome was defined as a disorder limited to progressive aphasia, without general cognitive impairment or dementia, over a 2-year period. Many patients do develop more generalized dementia later in the course of the illness, as those reported by Kirshner et al.[3 ]Less commonly, cases of isolated right frontal or temporal degeneration have been reported. These patients experience failure to recognize family members (prosopagnosia), failure to remember topographic relationships, and similar disorders.
Hematoxylin and eosin stain of the left frontal cortex from a patient with primary progressive aphasia. This shows loss of neurons, plump astrocytes (arrow), and microvacuolation of the superficial cortical layers. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
In recent years,
the condition described in the North American literature as primary progressive
aphasia and that has been described in the European literature as frontal
dementia have been combined under the term frontotemporal dementia
(FTD). This lumping refers to the frontal lobe syndrome described by
Neary and Snowdon[4 ]as interchangeably behavioral variant frontotemporal
dementia (bvFTD) or frontal variant frontotemporal dementia (fvFTD) and divides
progressive aphasias into 2 groups — progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA)
and semantic dementia (SD).
Patient with progressive nonfluent aphasia. MRI showing focal, left temporal atrophy. Reprinted from Neurology in Clinical Practice, 4th ed. Kirshner H. Language and Speech Disorders. Copyright 2004, with permission from Elsevier.
Patient with progressive nonfluent aphasia. Positron emission tomography (PET) scan indicating hypometabolism of glucose in the left hemisphere. Reprinted from Neurology in Clinical Practice, 4th ed. Kirshner H. Language and Speech Disorders. Copyright 2004, with permission from Elsevier.
Considerable progress has been made with regard to the genetics
and molecular pathology of these disorders. Many patients with frontotemporal
lobe dementia syndromes have tau pathology, and mutations in the tau gene
have been found in many of these patients. More than 50% of cases
lack tau pathology but have ubiquitin immunoreactive inclusions in the cytoplasm
or nucleus or ubiquitin immunoreactive neurites. This group has
been designated frontotemporal lobar degeneration-ubiquitin (FTLD-U). The
TAR-DNA binding protein (TDP-43) is a major component of most of these ubiquitin-positive
cases. Progranulin mutations have been found in some of the nontau, ubiquitin,
and TDP-43 positive hereditary frontotemporal lobe dementia cases. Mutations
in at least 4 other genes have also been associated with ubiquitin-positive
familial frontotemporal lobe dementia syndromes. Finally, the smallest
group of frontotemporal lobe dementia cases have neither tau norubiquitin/TDP-43pathology.
With better understanding of frontotemporal lobar degeneration, the tau pathology
associated with some progressive nonfluent aphasia and behavioral variant
frontotemporal lobe dementia cases was also found in progressive supranuclear
palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and the ubiquitin-immunoreactive
inclusions found in the frontal cortex in some behavioral variant frontotemporal
lobe dementia are found in upper and lower motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS). Moreover, about 10% of patients with amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis have significant dysfunction in behavior and executive function,
and some patients with frontotemporal lobe dementia develop motor neuron disease
as their illness progresses.
FREQUENCY
The exact prevalence of frontotemporal lobe dementia is unknown. Among patients presenting with dementia who are younger than 65 years, the prevalence may be similar or greater than that of Alzheimer disease.[6 ]Some series based on brain pathology have estimated that frontotemporal lobe dementia comprises as many as 10% of cases of dementia. In the United States, estimates are generally lower.
Studies from Lund, Sweden and Manchester, England estimate that frontotemporal lobe dementia accounts for approximately 8% of patients with dementia. Probably the most accurate information comes from a Dutch study by Stevens et al, who reported 74 cases in a population of 15 million (ie, 5 cases per million). Among those aged 60-70 years, the prevalence was 28 cases per 100,000.[7 ]
MORTALITY / MORBIDITY
Frontotemporal lobe dementia, like all dementing illnesses, shortens
life expectancy. The exact influence on mortality is unknown. The rate of
progression is variable. Patients with associated motor neuron disease tend
to have much shorter life expectancy.
SEX
Frontotemporal dementia can develop at almost any age in either gender. The most complete review, compiled by Westbury and Bub, investigated 112 published cases prior to 1997; the series included 66% males and 34% females.[8 ]
AGE
Most patients with frontotemporal dementia present in their 50s or 60s. In the 1997 review by Westbury and Bub, the mean age of onset was 59 years. The modal age was 64 years.[8 ]
HISTORY
Diagnostic considerations
Physical and neurologic examinations reflect mainly
the mental status abnormalities described under History.
CAUSES
The cause of frontotemporal lobe dementia is unknown, but significant
evidence supports a genetic component to these syndromes.
Pick Disease
Various pathologic findings have been reported in patients with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal lobe dementia. The central theme of these reports is that these syndromes have a non-Alzheimer pathology.
Considering first the cases of primary progressive aphasia, Pick disease was the first pathologic disease associated with this syndrome. This was reported with a description of the language syndrome in 1892. The neuropathological features of Pick disease are focal, lobar atrophy of the frontal and/or temporal lobes of one or both hemispheres, prominent gliosis associated with swollen neurons, and/or argentophilic inclusions (Pick bodies). In the current era, several groups have reported cases of pathologically proven Pick disease. Holland et al[18 ], Wechsler et al[19 ], and Graff-Radford et al[20 ]have reported patients with pathologically proven Pick disease and progressive language deterioration. All patients described in these reports had slowly progressive language symptoms, with naming involved early. In all cases, enough cognitive functions were spared initially to make the disorder easily distinguishable from typical Alzheimer disease.
Many reported cases do not have Pick bodies but have the less
specific findings of lobar atrophy, neuronal loss, gliosis, and microvacuolization.
These cases were previously referred to as dementia without specific histological
features, but this term was used before the newer histological stains
for tau and ubiquitin proteins entered routine use. This nonspecific pattern
of neuronal loss, gliosis, and microvacuolization was reported in 2 cases
as a pathologic underpinning of primary progressive aphasia.[21
]
Similar changes have also been reported by Morris et al[22
]under the term hereditary dysphasic dementia and by English authors
Neary, Snowden, and colleagues under the term frontal lobe dementia. As noted
in Causes, most non-Alzheimer disease pathologies can be divided into those
with positive staining for tau proteins, including those linked to chromosome
17, and those with ubiquitin staining (FTLD-U), leaving only rare cases with
truly nonspecific pathology.[23 ]Among the tau-positive
patients, some develop symptoms and show pathologic criteria for corticobasal
degeneration and others show overlap with the progressive supranuclear
palsy pathology. Cases with ubiquitin staining have been divided into 3 subtypes,
as discussed earlier, and these include both the motor neuron disease and
frontotemporal lobe dementia cases (FTLD-MND) and the patients with a progranulin
mutation on chromosome 17.
Alzheimer disease, the most common dementing illness, can mimic almost any
of the frontotemporal lobe dementia variants when it presents with focal
symptoms. Only a few cases of pathologically confirmed Alzheimer disease have
been reported that presented with isolated nonfluent aphasia, but more have
been described with the syndromes of semantic dementia (though other cases
of semantic dementia have the FTLD-U pathology) and with the logopenic variant
of primary progressive aphasia.
Kertesz et al have suggested the term Pick complex to include these various non-Alzheimer pathologies, with or without Pick inclusion bodies and with or without motor neuron disease.[24 ]
MEDICAL CARE
To date, most efforts have concentrated on diagnosing frontotemporal
dementia and understanding its pathogenesis. Medical treatment is largely
nonexistent.
All current pharmacologic treatments are unproven, but SSRI antidepressants and trazodone are widely recommended. As discussed above, the cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine have not been shown to be effective in primary progressive aphasia or frontotemporal dementia (see Treatment).
PATIENT EDUCATION
For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Dementia Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Dementia Overview and Dementia Medication Overview.
Media file 1: Patient with progressive nonfluent aphasia. MRI showing focal, left temporal atrophy. Reprinted from Neurology in Clinical Practice, 4th ed. Kirshner H. Language and Speech Disorders. Copyright 2004, with permission from Elsevier.
Media file 2: Patient with progressive nonfluent aphasia. Positron emission tomography (PET) scan indicating hypometabolism of glucose in the left hemisphere. Reprinted from Neurology in Clinical Practice, 4th ed. Kirshner H. Language and Speech Disorders. Copyright 2004, with permission from Elsevier.
Media file 3: Hematoxylin and eosin stain of the left frontal cortex from a patient with primary progressive aphasia. This shows loss of neurons, plump astrocytes (arrow), and microvacuolation of the superficial cortical layers. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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frontotemporal dementia, frontal dementia, semantic dementia, nonspecific dementia, Pick's disease, Pick disease, primary progressive aphasia, FTD, PPA, tauopathy, motor neuron disease, Alzheimer disease, Alzheimer's disease, AD, fluent aphasia, nonfluent aphasia
Howard
S Kirshner, MD, Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Hearing
and Speech Sciences, Vice Chairman, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University
School of Medicine; Director, Vanderbilt Stroke Center; Program Director,
Stroke Service, Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital; Consulting
Staff, Department of Neurology, Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Howard S Kirshner, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha
Omega Alpha, American Academy of Neurology, American Heart Association, American
Medical Association, American Neurological Association, American Society of
Neurorehabilitation, National Stroke Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Tennessee
Medical Association
Disclosure: BMS/Sanofi Honoraria Speaking and teaching
Robert
A Hauser, MD, MBA, Professor of Neurology, Molecular Pharmacology
and Physiology, Director, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center,
University of South Florida; Clinical Chair, Signature Interdisciplinary Program
in Neuroscience
Robert A Hauser, MD, MBA is a member of the following medical societies: American
Academy of Neurology, American Medical Association, American Society of Neuroimaging,
and Movement Disorders Society
Disclosure: Allergan Sales, LLC Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Boehringer
Ingelheim Honoraria Consulting; Genzyme Corporation Honoraria Consulting; GlaxoSmithKline Honoraria Consulting; IMPAX
Laboratories, Inc. Honoraria Consulting; Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Corp. Honoraria Consulting; Schering Plough Consulting; Solvay
Pharmeceuticals Honoraria Consulting; Teva Neuroscience Honoraria Speaking
and teaching
Francisco
Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment
Richard
J Caselli, MD, Professor, Department of Neurology, Mayo Medical
School, Rochester, MN; Chair, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic of Scottsdale
Richard J Caselli, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American
Academy of Neurology, American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic
Medicine, American Medical Association, American Neurological Association,
and Sigma Xi
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
Howard
A Crystal, MD, Professor, Departments of Neurology and Pathology,
State University of New York Downstate; Consulting Staff, Department of Neurology,
University Hospital and Kings County Hospital Center
Howard A Crystal, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American
Academy of Neurology and American Neurological Association
Disclosure: Medivations Honoraria Consulting