[Fronto-temporal degenerative dementia. A modern neuropathologic approach].

The classification of degenerative dementias with fronto-temporal atrophy has been debated since the description of Pick's disease. The study of a clinico-pathological series of 10 cases using immunohistochemistry lead to the following conclusions: reserving the name of Pick's disease to those cases with argyrophilic inclusions, the most recognisable and characteristic marker at neuropathological examination, allows an easy and reliable diagnosis; keeping on with the splitting of these disorders into various clinico-pathologic entities seems today more useful than grouping them into a single syndrome until new data, based for example on genetic analysis, show that different phenotypes correspond to the same disease.