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Frontotemporal dementia: pathology of gait?
Gilles Allali1, Bruno Dubois, Frederic Assal
1Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. gilles.allali@hcuge.ch
Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society
|February 23, 2010
Summary
Gait instability during walking, both alone and with cognitive tasks, is significantly more pronounced in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD) compared to Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy individuals.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Gerontology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD) diagnosis relies on neurobehavioral and dysexecutive syndromes.
- Gait and prefrontal function are increasingly recognized as interconnected.
- Specific gait characteristics are not primary diagnostic criteria for bvFTD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gait changes in patients with bvFTD compared to Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and healthy controls.
- To test the hypothesis that bvFTD patients exhibit greater gait alterations.
Main Methods:
- Sixty subjects (19 bvFTD, 19 AD, 22 controls) participated.
- Stride time (mean and coefficient of variation) was measured during single and dual-task walking using the SMTEC-footswitch system.
- Statistical analyses adjusted for age, cognitive status, medication, gender, and fall history.
Main Results:
- Both bvFTD and AD patients showed increased stride time and variability compared to controls during single and dual-task walking.
- After adjustments, only bvFTD patients demonstrated a significant increase in stride time variability during both single and dual-tasking.
- Gait instability during single and dual-tasking emerged as a supportive indicator for bvFTD.
Conclusions:
- Gait instability, particularly increased stride time variability, may serve as a supportive diagnostic marker for bvFTD.
- Clinicians should consider bvFTD in demented patients presenting with gait instability.
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