White matter tract signatures on Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) as an aid to confirm the diagnosis of the behavioral variant of Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) – a review of the literature.

Dr. Sunandan Banerjee; Dr. Ivan S. Netto

Volume : VII, Issue : XII, December - 2017

White matter tract signatures on Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) as an aid to confirm the diagnosis of the behavioral variant of Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) – a review of the literature.

Dr. Sunandan Banerjee, Dr. Ivan S. Netto

Abstract :

Objective: Behavioral variant of Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) is often misdiagnosed as a primary psychiatric disorder. It is therefore imperative to confirm the diagnosis of bvFTD as early as possible so that the patients may benefit from evidence–based treatments.

Data Source: 11 studies related to the topic were found out of which seven were selected for this review.

Data Extraction: The data from the selected seven studies was extracted.

Data Synthesis: All the studies were case–control studies, published during 2013–2015 and used the International Consensus Criteria for the diagnosis of bvFTD. All studies reported specific white matter tract changes on DTI in bvFTD.

Conclusion: White matter signatures on DTI are a core feature for the confirmation of the diagnosis of bvFTD. It helps in the comparison between dementias and monitoring of bvFTD.