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Frontotemporal dementia: clinicopathological correlations
Forman MS, Farmer J, Johnson JK, Clark CM, Arnold SE, Coslett HB, Chatterjee A, Hurtig HI et al.. Annals of neurology, 2006-06-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is characterized by impairments in social, behavioral, and/or language function, but postmortem studies indicate that multiple neuropathological entities lead to FTLD. This study assessed whether specific clinical features predict the underlying pathology. Methods A clinicopathological correlation was performed on 90 consecutive patients with a pathological diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and was compared with an additional 24 cases accrued during the same time period with a clinical diagnosis of FTLD, but with pathology not typically associated with frontotemporal dementia. Results Postmortem examination showed multiple pathologies including tauopathies (46%), FTLD with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (29%), and Alzheimer's disease (17%). The pathological groups manifested some distinct demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological features, although these attributes showed only a statistical association with the underlying pathology. FTLD with ubiquitin-positive inclusions was more likely to present with both social and language dysfunction, and motor neuron disease was more likely to emerge in these patients. Tauopathies were more commonly associated with an extrapyramidal disorder. Alzheimer's disease was associated with relatively greater deficits in memory and executive function. Interpretation Clinical and neuropsychological features contribute to delineating the spectrum of pathology underlying a patient diagnosed with FTLD, but biomarkers are needed that, together with the clinical phenotype, can predict the underlying neuropathology.
Key findings
- Objective Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is characterized by impairments in social, behavioral, and/or language function, but postmortem studies indicate that multiple neuropathological entities lead to FTLD.
- Methods A clinicopathological correlation was performed on 90 consecutive patients with a pathological diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and was compared with an additional 24 cases accrued during the same time period with a clinical diagnosis of FTLD, but with pathology not typically associated with frontotemporal dementia.
- Results Postmortem examination showed multiple pathologies including tauopathies (46%), FTLD with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (29%), and Alzheimer's disease (17%).
- Tauopathies were more commonly associated with an extrapyramidal disorder.
- Alzheimer's disease was associated with relatively greater deficits in memory and executive function.
Why it matters
This clinicopathological study found that frontotemporal dementia can be caused by multiple different pathologies, including tauopathies, FTLD with ubiquitin-positive inclusions, and Alzheimer's disease. It shows that clinical features are only statistically associated with the underlying pathology, which matters for diagnosis rather than treatment or cure.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 55/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Annals of Neurology: journal h-index 437 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2006 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 478 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 21.7 citations a year over 22 year(s) since 2006 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 27.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 60 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 23 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Murray Grossman: h-index 119 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, San Francisco: institution h-index 1,915 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16718704) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 55 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Forman, M. S., Farmer, J., Johnson, J. K., Clark, C. M., Arnold, S. E., Coslett, H. B., et al. (2006). Frontotemporal dementia: clinicopathological correlations. Annals of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.20873
Vancouver
Forman MS, Farmer J, Johnson JK, Clark CM, Arnold SE, Coslett HB, et al. Frontotemporal dementia: clinicopathological correlations. Annals of neurology. 2006. doi:10.1002/ana.20873. PMID: 16718704.
BibTeX
@article{forman2006-16718704,
author = {Forman, M. S. and Farmer, J. and Johnson, J. K. and Clark, C. M. and Arnold, S. E. and Coslett, H. B. and Chatterjee, A. and Hurtig, H. I. and others},
title = {{Frontotemporal dementia: clinicopathological correlations}},
journal = {Annals of neurology},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1002/ana.20873},
pmid = {16718704},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.20873}
}
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