Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39607834›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of neurology2025

Expert opinions on pharmacological symptomatic treatment of behavioral symptoms in frontotemporal dementia: A survey of the Neuropsychiatric International Consortium on Frontotemporal Dementia (NIC-FTD).

Dirk van Paassen, Luc Hartog, Sterre de Boer, Everard Vijverberg, Simon Ducharme, Yolande Pijnenburg, Alexander Santillo

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Article in European journal of neurology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Depression and apathy in frontotemporal dementia: a short assessment of facts and outlook.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Dirk van PaassenAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0001-7517-1977
Luc HartogAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sterre de BoerAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Everard VijverbergAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Simon DucharmeDepartment of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Yolande PijnenburgAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Alexander SantilloDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Clinical Memory Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-9717-0820

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeBehavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is essentially characterized by progressive changes in personality and cognition. Clinically, bvFTD presents with often profound behavioral symptomatology. Despite the high burden of these symptoms for both patients and caregivers, there is no general consensus on an effective pharmacological symptomatic treatment. Interestingly, for multiple similar symptoms in primary psychiatric disorders, there is consensus on an effective pharmacological treatment. The aim of this study is to explore currently preferred clinical practices in the pharmacological treatment of specific core behavioral symptoms in bvFTD by world-leading clinical experts.

methodsA digital survey was conducted among members of the Neuropsychiatric International Consortium on Frontotemporal Dementia, comprising neurologists, psychiatrists, and neuropsychiatrists. Respondents recommended pharmacological treatments targeting symptoms including disinhibition, apathy, loss of empathy, hyperorality, perseverative/compulsive behaviors, and positive psychotic symptoms.

resultsOf 48 respondents with a median experience of 11.5 years in treating bvFTD, disinhibition was most frequently targeted (58.4%), followed by perseverative/compulsive behaviors (46.5%). Recommended drug classes included atypical antipsychotics (35.1%), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (31.2%), antiepileptics (10.0%), serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitors (8.4%), benzodiazepines (4.0%), and others (11.4%).

conclusionsOur survey revealed diverse pharmacological treatment practices for behavioral symptoms in bvFTD, reflecting the expected radical heterogeneity in pharmacological treatment strategies. Notwithstanding this, results from this explorative survey could further inform future research directions, and thus in turn potentially aid in establishing more consensus on effective pharmacological management of bvFTD, while the field awaits the development of highly anticipated disease-modifying treatment(s).

Indexed as

Frontotemporal DementiaAntipsychotic AgentsBehavioral SymptomsFemaleHumansPractice Patterns, Physicians'Selective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsSurveys and QuestionnairesAntipsychotic AgentsSelective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitorsbehavioral symptomsbehavioral variant frontotemporal dementiabvFTDclinical practicegeneticpharmacological treatmentsporadicsymptomatic treatment

Identifiers

PMID39607834
PMCPMC11625954

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.