Unfortunately, accurate identification of Behavioral variant FrontoTemporal Dementia (bvFTD) can be difficult for clinicians, including primary care physicians, geriatricians, general psychiatrists and general neurologists, who do not specialize in the assessment of neurodegenerative syndromes. bvFTD is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by focal degeneration of the frontal and anterior temporal lobes; it has an incidence and prevalence similar to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among young-onset patients.
bvFTD is often mistaken for AD or other conditions including psychiatric disorders, such as late-onset schizophrenia, atypical psychosis and depression. Alternatively, though non-specialist clinicians have become more aware of bvFTD as an entity, they may erroneously interpret their patients’ symptoms as indicating bvFTD when the patient has another neurologic or psychiatric disorder.…
