MRI with diffusion tensor imaging post-mortem at 3.0 T in a patient with frontotemporal dementia

The formalin-fixed brain of a patient with clinically diagnosed frontotemporal dementia (FTD) was examined post-mortem using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 3.0 T. Frontotemporal atrophy as well as bilateral frontal white matter abnormalities were seen. The white matter changes were slightly more extensive on DTI than on conventional MRI. Correlation with histopathology of the corresponding regions revealed typical frontal lobe degeneration of non-Alzheimer type, with mild frontotemporal degeneration in the outer cortical layers and a moderate frontal white matter gliosis with demyelination. Post-mortem MRI/DTI with histopathologic correlation will enhance our understanding of the basis of white matter changes observed in dementia patients and may improve the in vivo MRI/DTI diagnostic assessment in FTD.