The Evolving Role of FDG-PET in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia: Current Applications and Future...

The diagnosis of behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD)-a common cause of early-onset dementia-remains challenging due to a lack of determined biomarkers. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan detects early glucose metabolism alterations in specific brain regions. The detection of distinct hypometabolic patterns in early stages of bvFTD has established FDG-PET as an indispensable adjunctive diagnostic tool in inconclusive cases, as well as in distinguishing between different types of dementia. Moreover, its role in the differential diagnosis of the often overlapping bvFTD and primary psychiatric disorders (PPD) is being studied by exploring disease-specific hypometabolic areas. Finally, the identification of early metabolic alterations and even earlier alterations in distinct metabolic brain networks may assist the diagnosis of presymptomatic carriers of disease-related gene mutations and lead to the development of novel biomarkers. The aim of our review is to underscore the role of FDG-PET as an approved yet promising tool that may lead to a new era in the diagnosis of bvFTD by establishing novel biomarkers and integrating AI as an assistant modality to inform diagnosis and decision-making.