Longitudinal analysis of brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia

OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are among the leading causes of early-onset dementia. This study aimed to assess the rate of whole brain atrophy by comparing bvFTD and AD. METHODS: Two patients (one man with AD, and one woman with bvFTD) had neuropsychological and neuroimaging assessment by using automated techniques for cross-sectional and longitudinal atrophy measurements. RESULTS: In the patient with AD, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed decreased bilateral hippocampal and mesial-temporal volume. However, conventional images showed no difference between baseline (T0) and after 1 year (T1). In the patient with bvFTD, MRI showed bilateral frontotemporal lobe atrophy and a moderate increase in atrophy between T0 and T1, particularly in the temporal lobes. A cross-sectional cerebral volume examination showed a considerable reduction in brain volume in the patient with bvFDT and a moderate reduction in the patient with AD. A longitudinal cerebral volume examination showed a lower percentage brain volume change in the patient with bvFTS compared with the patient with AD. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that bvFTD has more neurodegenerative progression. MRI findings should be considered as a reliable marker of disease progression in the brain. Our findings offer potential for monitoring treatment outcomes.