Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome caused by non-Alzheimer type progressive degeneration of the frontal and/or temporal brain lobes. It represents about 10% of all dementias, most frequently developing in the age between 45 and 65 and lasting on average eight years from the first symptoms to death. It is characterised by distinct alteration of personality and social behaviour and/or speech disorder, affecting of executive functions, change of dining habits and other symptoms. Spatial orientation and day-to-day memory remain relatively preserved up to the advanced stages of the disease. FTD represents a clinically heterogeneous group of conditions with its clinical picture corresponding to the affected brain area. The most frequent types are dementia of frontal type, semantic dementia and progressive non-fluent aphasia. Other syndromologic units are rare. Sometimes there are only focal changes with defined clinical picture, however, in most cases generalised changes and clinical symptoms occur, sometimes leading to the clinical picture of fully developed dementia. FTD is clinically diagnosed on the basis of the clinical picture and imaging examination method findings; a pathologists sets the ultimate diagnosis. The histopathological finding is usually non-specific or including the finding of Pick cells and Pick bodies. No specific therapy of FTD is known; the serotonin reuptake inhibitors may cause reduction of behavioural disorders. The cholinesterase inhibitors are not indicated, in some cases they may even lead to deterioration of the behaviour. The work summarizes the current knowledge about FTD and uses the clinical experience of the author

        Key words: Frontotemporal dementia, Pick’s disease, dementia of frontal type, semantic dementia, progressive non-fluent aphasia.