Frontotemporal lobar degeneration: diversity of FTLD lesions.

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a heterogeneous group including both sporadic and familial diseases, characterized by a macroscopic alteration. It may correspond to various cognitive syndromes: behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), progressive nonfluent aphasia, and semantic dementia. The neuropathologic classification is now based on identification of the protein that accumulates in neurons and glia: Tau, TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 (TDP-43), and FUsed in Sarcoma (FUS). The disorders in which the corresponding proteins accumulate have been named FTLD-Tau, FTLD-TDP, and FTLD-FUS. FTLD-Tau includes sporadic cases (e.g. Pick's disease) and Tau mutations. FTLD-TDP are subdivided within four types (A, B, C, D) according to the shape and distribution of TDP-43 positive lesions within the associative frontal cortex. The FTLD-FUS group includes atypical FTLD with ubiquitinated lesions (FTLD-U), Neuronal Intermediate Filament Inclusion Disease (NIFID) and Basophilic Inclusion Body Disease (BIBD).