Telling the difference between frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

A precise diagnosis of the cause of dementia during life is needed for proper management, in order to explain the symptoms to the patient and to the close relatives, and to give appropriate indications on the prognosis and possibly on the genetic risk. Frontotemporal dementia remains under-diagnosed and often misdiagnosed for Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia. More and more studies explore the differences between the two syndromes.

RECENT FINDINGS

Progress in neuropsychological testing improves the ability to distinguish between syndromes and knowledge on brain functioning. More attention has been paid over these last months--or years--on emotion, insight, behavior, artistic creativity and quality of responses. Yet, biomarkers do not improve the diagnostic accuracy of trained clinicians, and do not help to distinguish between histological subtypes of frontotemporal dementia.

SUMMARY

Improvement in knowledge on cognitive and emotional impairment in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease is essential for the management of the patient--information can be given to the patients and the families that helps them to understand and to behave in consequence.