Diagnostic accuracy of research criteria for prodromal frontotemporal dementia

Journal article

Background: The Genetic Frontotemporal Initiative Staging Group has proposed clinical criteria for the diagnosis of prodromal frontotemporal dementia (FTD), termed mild cognitive and/or behavioral and/or motor impairment (MCBMI). The objective of the study was to validate the proposed research criteria for MCBMI-FTD in a cohort of genetically confirmed FTD cases against healthy controls. Methods: A total of 398 participants were enrolled, 117 of whom were carriers of an FTD pathogenic variant with mild clinical symptoms, while 281 were non-carrier family members (healthy controls (HC)). A subgroup of patients underwent blood neurofilament light (NfL) levels and anterior cingulate atrophy assessment. Results: The core clinical criteria correctly classified MCBMI vs HC with an AUC of 0.79 (p < 0.001), while the addition of either blood NfL or anterior cingulate atrophy significantly increased the AUC to 0.84 and 0.82, respectively (p < 0.001). The addition of both markers further increased the AUC to 0.90 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The proposed MCBMI criteria showed very good classification accuracy for identifying the prodromal stage of FTD.

Authors: Benussi, A; Premi, E; Grassi, M; Alberici, A; Cantoni, V

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Journal: Alzheimer's Research & Therapy
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 10-10
• Article number: 10
• Publication date: 2024-01-12
• DOI: 10.1186/s13195-024-01383-1
• EISSN: 1758-9193
• ISSN: 1758-9193
• Language: English
• Keywords: Psychology; Oncology; Disease; Psychiatry; Frontotemporal dementia; Internal medicine; Dementia; Medicine; Cohort; Atrophy