Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

The 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology

The early symptoms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Koichi Okamoto, M.D.

Department of Neurology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is the third most common cause of cortical dementia, following Alzheimer disease and dementia with Lewy body.
Clinical criteria of FTLD were reviewed, and the initial symptoms, early neuropsychological and behavioral characteristics were also reviewed.
In our own 205 ALS patients, 20 patients were dementia with ALS. In those cases, early and progressive loss of social awareness and insight and paragraphia were frequently observed. In ALS patients, especially patients with bulbar symptoms, we must carefully examine the mental functions and study the brains with MRI and SPECT/PET for detection of frontotemporal dysfunction.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (397K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 48: 999|1001, 2008)
key words: frontotemporal lobar degeneration, frontotemporal dementia, dementia, motor neuron disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(Received: 17-May-08)