Computed Tomography in Pick's Disease

Abstract

Pick's disease is a rare cause of dementia. We studied two clinical cases of Pick's disease in its early stage. A computed tomography (CT) demonstrated lobar atrophy affecting primarily the anterior portions of the frontal lobes and the inferior portions of the temporal lobes. The fact that the characteristic pattern of lobar atrophy is already apparent in the early stage of the disease was demonstrated.

18F-FDG PET Imaging in Neurodegenerative Dementing Disorders: Insights into Subtype Classification, Emerging Disease Categories, and Mixed Dementia with Copathologies

“…Additional decreased uptake can be seen progressively in the caudate nucleus and thalamus (39). The frontal involvement in bvFTD is often sharply demarcated, and was initially described as "lobar atrophy" on CT or MRI (40). Asymmetric involvement of the hemispheres appears to be quite common (41).…”

Neuroimaging in the Diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia

“…In 1979, McGeachie et al [3] described a case of Pick's disease associated with anterior frontal and temporal atrophy on CT, and they suggested that this focal pattern of brain atrophy could be used to confirm a diagnosis of Pick's disease during life. Subsequently, investigators from Japan [4][5][6], Europe [7] and the United States [8,9] described patients with Pick's disease in whom CT showed focal loss of tissue. Others noted the value of anterior atrophy on CT for differentiating Pick's disease from Alzheimer's disease (AD) where atrophy was more medial and posterior [6,10].…”