Differential diagnosis of behavioral variant of fronto-temporal dementia (bvFTD)

BACKGROUND: The aim of the paper is the differential diagnosis of various types of Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD), with the focus on its behavioural variant (bvFTD). MATERIAL/METHOD: Material and Method. Screening was done in order to assess the depth of dementia with the short version of MMSE, while evaluation of various variants of FTD was performed with the use of such neuropsychological tests as Newcomb and Chicago Fluency Tests, Wechsler Memory Scale - III (WMS-III), Western Aphasia Battery (WAB-R), and the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Behaviour was evaluated with a Polish version of the Frontal Behavioral Inventory (FBInv). The inventory consists of 24 questions which enable an evaluation of social behaviour disorders. The study included 112 patients - 68 men and 46 women treated in the Reintegrative -Training Centre of the Foundation for Persons with Brain Dysfunctions in Kraków and in the Clinic for Developmental Psychiatry, Psychotic Disorders and Old Age Psychiatry, of the Medical University at Gdańsk, who were suffering from various types of dementia. RESULTS: It was found that FTD patients scored the highest, while the VAD patients scored somewhat lower in the FBInv. At the same time the scores obtained by PPA patients were higher in comparison to the control groups, but not as high as in the case of patients with FTD. In the process of the neurotherapy of FTD patients we found a reduction of the behavioral disturbances, despite the progression of the illness. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in the present study confirmed the diagnostic value of FBInv in the differential diagnosis of various types of FTD and in the evaluation of neurotherapy efficacy.