Diagnosis

The diagnosis is made based on the symptoms. In addition to these, the doctor also uses various examinations and tests to make the diagnosis.

Scanning

Shrinking of the frontal or temporal lobes will be evident in a brain scan (CAT scan or MRI scan). In frontal lobe dementia, one side of the brain will often become smaller. A ‘PET’ brain scan will normally show that there is reduced blood flow to areas of the frontal and temporal lobes.

EEG examination

An EEG (electroencephalograph) examination of the brains electrical activity will often show normal activity until very late in the course. This is in contrast to Alzheimer's disease, where changes in the EEG may be discovered early in the disease.

Types of frontotemporal dementia

FTD can be divided according to:

• the symptoms the patient has and
• the changes found in the brain during autopsy.

There is not always a clear correlation between these two divisions. That means that patients with quite different changes in the brain,, may have the same symptoms.

Division of frontotemporal dementia according to symptoms

• Frontotemporal dementia
• Primary progressive aphasia
• Semantic dementia
• Corticobasal degeneration