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Pick's disease

May be deprecated term for frontotemporal dementia. Epidemiology: -> 5th-7th decade of life Pathology: 1) lobar atrophy of temporal &/or frontal lobes -> may involve basal ganglia 2) atrophy is generally symmetric, but may be asymmetric 3) gliosis 4) neuronal loss 5) Pick bodies 6) amyloid plaques may be present 7) neurofibrillary tangles may be present Genetics: reported cases of autosomal dominant familial disease Clinical manifestations: 1) cognitive impairment -> slowly progressive dementia 2) behavior disturbance a) hyper-oral behavior b) bulimia c) emotional disinhibition d) irritability e) persistent aimless wandering f) personality changes 3) language disturbance a) aphasia b) forced repetitive speech patterns c) echolalia in later phases d) mutism with severe disease Laboratory: 1) see dementia 2) autopsy confirms diagnosis Radiology: -> neuroimaging (CT or MRI) shows lobar atrophy of temporal &/or frontal lobes Differential diagnosis: -> difficult to distinguish from Alzheimer's disease Management: -> no specific treatment

Interactions

disease interactions

General

frontotemporal dementia; frontotemporal lobar degeneration; frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder (FTD, FTLD)

Properties

PATHOLOGY: Pick body atrophy ANATOMIC-STRUCTURE: frontal lobe temporal lobe

References

  1. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th ed. Fauci et al (eds), McGraw-Hill Inc. NY, 1998, pg 2352
  2. Miller BL et al Case 9-2015 - A 31-Year-Old Man with Personality Changes and Progressive Neurologic Decline. N Engl J Med 2015; 372:1151-1162. March 19, 2015. PMID: 25785973 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcpc1409839
  3. NINDS Frontotemporal Dementia Information Page https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Frontotemporal-Dementia-Information-Page

Databases & Images

OMIM 172700 images related to Pick's disease