Median survival from diagnosis of FTD has been reported to be 7-13 years in clinic cohorts and 6-8 years in neuropathology series.[134]Xie SX, Forman MS, Farmer J, et al. Factors associated with survival probability in autopsy-proven frontotemporal lobar degeneration. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008 Feb;79(2):126-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17615171?tool=bestpractice.com
[135]Pasquier F, Richard F, Lebert F. Natural history of frontotemporal dementia: comparison with Alzheimer's disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2004;17(4):253-7.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15178930?tool=bestpractice.com
[136]Borroni B, Grassi M, Agosti C, et al. Survival in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and related disorders: latent class predictors and brain functional correlates. Rejuvenation Res. 2009 Feb;12(1):33-44.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19236162?tool=bestpractice.com
[137]Kang SJ, Cha KR, Seo SW, et al. Survival in frontotemporal lobar degeneration in a Korean population. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2010 Oct-Dec;24(4):339-42.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20625272?tool=bestpractice.com
Generally, survival times from diagnosis have been reported to be similar in patients with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), nonfluent aphasia, corticobasal degeneration, or progressive supranuclear palsy.[138]Chiu WZ, Kaat LD, Seelaar H, et al. Survival in progressive supranuclear palsy and frontotemporal dementia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2010 Apr;81(4):441-5.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20360166?tool=bestpractice.com
However, one study indicated that life expectancy may be shorter in patients with bvFTD than in those with progressive nonfluent aphasia or semantic dementia.[139]Nunnemann S, Last D, Schuster T, et al. Survival in a German population with frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Neuroepidemiology. 2011;37(3-4):160-5.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22056939?tool=bestpractice.com
Median survival is considerably shorter (3 years) in patients with FTD and concomitant motor neuron disease, although a subset survived for up to 5 years, and sudden death may be common.[135]Pasquier F, Richard F, Lebert F. Natural history of frontotemporal dementia: comparison with Alzheimer's disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2004;17(4):253-7.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15178930?tool=bestpractice.com
Patients with FTD generally have shorter survival and faster rates of cognitive and functional decline than patients with Alzheimer disease.[140]Rascovsky K, Salmon DP, Lipton AM, et al. Rate of progression differs in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2005 Aug 9;65(3):397-403.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16087904?tool=bestpractice.com