Extensive cerebral blood flow deficits in chromosome 2 frontotemporal dementia.

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was assessed by O-15-water PET in two patients from a Danish family with chromosome- 3 dominant frontotemporal dementia (A,B). Maps of rCBF (C) were aligned in the Talairach space and Volumes of Interest were applied. Subject III-20: Female, 70 yr. Onset of disease at 54 yr. MMSE=0, bedridden, mutistic. The rCBF in the primary visual cortex, thalami, putamen, and cerebellum was normal with a cerebellar peak value of 62 [ml/100g/min]. The rCBF of all other cortical regions were severely impaired with the most prominent flow deficits in the parietal [23] and anterior frontal [23] cortices together with the lateral temporal cortex [20]. Subject III-22: Female, 64 yr. Onset of disease within a year before scanning (MMSE=24). The peak rCBF value was [61] in the cerebellum. The rCBF was normal in the cerebellum, primary visual cortex, basal ganglia, the thalami, and a small area of the right lateral frontal cortex. Pronounced and extensive rCBF reductions was seen in the secondary cortices of the frontal [34], parietal [32], and temporal lobes [30]. Both patients showed the same pattern of pronounced rCBF deficits in the secondary cortices with sparring of the primary visual cortex and the cerebellum. The data indicate and early onset of rCBF decline in this type of chromosome- 3 frontotemporal dementia