Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal Dementia

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Diagnosis

Because the first symptoms tend to affect personality and behavior, frontotemporal dementia may be mistaken as a psychiatric disorder. Correct identification requires a thorough physical examination and a careful interview with family members.

At the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, patients undergo an extensive neurological, neurophysicial and nursing assessment, usually taking about three hours. Information from the caregiver is sought in every case.

Because memory loss and other related symptoms are often complex, a comprehensive evaluation is necessary. The evaluation may require two to three visits to determine the cause of the symptoms and recommend treatment.

After the evaluation, the medical team involved with each patient meets to discuss the diagnosis and potential treatments. After this meeting, the team discusses its findings with the patient and the family. In some cases, a diagnosis will be deferred until more information from blood tests or brain imaging is collected.

The disease leads to loss of brain tissue that is visible on imaging tests, such as magnetic resonance images (MRI), which are key in identifying the characteristic shrinking of the frontal and temporal lobes, located in the front of the brain. Other tests include positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

As part of the diagnosis, a written report is sent to the patient's primary care physician or specialist who referred the patient to UCSF.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 8, 2007