TY - JOUR
T1 - How much do physicians in Latin America know about behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia?
AU - Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel
AU - Flichtentrei, Daniel
AU - Manes, Facundo
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Diagnosis of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) can be especially challenging during the early stages for several reasons, including the fact that (a) behavioral disturbances in bvFTD can mimic the symptomatic profile of psychiatric disorders; (b) neuropsychological performance may be relatively spared; and (c) changes in structural neuroimaging may go undetected. Most frequently, bvFTD is not included as part of medical or residency training outside the field of cognitive neurology. The present study aimed at examining bvFTD-related practices concerning academic and professional training, diagnosis, and treatment across Latin America. We surveyed the academic and professional aspects of clinical practice related to bvFTD of 596 physicians from different fields throughout the continent. We discuss several aspects concerning Latin American physicians' training on dementia and bvFTD, the way in which they approach the differential diagnosis of bvFTD, and their most frequent strategies for the treatment of this condition. We conclude that information about bvFTD deserves more attention in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in Latin America, and that understanding clinical practices related to FTD can help design more efficient training programs for physicians in this and other world regions.
AB - Diagnosis of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) can be especially challenging during the early stages for several reasons, including the fact that (a) behavioral disturbances in bvFTD can mimic the symptomatic profile of psychiatric disorders; (b) neuropsychological performance may be relatively spared; and (c) changes in structural neuroimaging may go undetected. Most frequently, bvFTD is not included as part of medical or residency training outside the field of cognitive neurology. The present study aimed at examining bvFTD-related practices concerning academic and professional training, diagnosis, and treatment across Latin America. We surveyed the academic and professional aspects of clinical practice related to bvFTD of 596 physicians from different fields throughout the continent. We discuss several aspects concerning Latin American physicians' training on dementia and bvFTD, the way in which they approach the differential diagnosis of bvFTD, and their most frequent strategies for the treatment of this condition. We conclude that information about bvFTD deserves more attention in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in Latin America, and that understanding clinical practices related to FTD can help design more efficient training programs for physicians in this and other world regions.
KW - Academic training
KW - Diagnosis
KW - Frontotemporal dementia
KW - Latin America
KW - Treatment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80855148258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12031-011-9556-9
DO - 10.1007/s12031-011-9556-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 21611804
AN - SCOPUS:80855148258
SN - 0895-8696
VL - 45
SP - 609
EP - 617
JO - Journal of Molecular Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Molecular Neuroscience
IS - 3
ER -