Frontotemporal Dementia in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study

BACKGROUND: The clinical profile of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in Southeast Asia is not known. We characterized and compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of FTD patients in Southeast Asia with North Asian and Western patients. METHODS: The study included Southeast Asian FTD patients presenting to a tertiary neurology institute. Behavioral variant (bv-FTD) and language variant (lv-FTD) subtypes of FTD were diagnosed based on the Lund-Manchester criteria. The patients were characterized according to demographics, clinical, neuroimaging and longitudinal profiles. RESULTS: Twenty-five bv-FTD and 19 lv-FTD patients were identified, with a female predominance ratio of 2:1 and a mean age of 56 years. The mean MMSE score was 16.2, and 88.4% of patients had memory symptoms. Over 5.1 ± 2.4 years of follow-up, 60% of bv-FTD and 36.8% of lv-FTD patients developed a second FTD syndrome. bv-FTD was the predominant type of FTD among Southeast Asians. CONCLUSION: FTD represents an important cause of young-onset dementia in Southeast Asia. Greater awareness of FTD is required to ensure early diagnosis and management.