Prevalence of epilepsy and seizures in frontotemporal dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

What was studied

This review looked at epilepsy and seizures in frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. Their burden in FTD is poorly defined. The team searched Embase, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov, MEDLINE/PubMed and the Cochrane Library. The search ran to August 15, 2025, for observational studies in adults with FTD. They followed PRISMA 2020 and pooled prevalence in random-effects models. Bias was rated with Joanna Briggs Institute checklists.

What they found

3,182 individuals were included. 5 studies were at low risk of bias and 6 at high risk. Heterogeneity was substantial. Prevalence varied across clinical variants (P = .04). Only 2 studies had control counts, and they showed higher odds in FTD. A ratio of 3.72 came from an exploratory synthesis of all 3.

What it means for patients

The team says a nontrivial share of people with FTD have epilepsy or seizures. They say prevalence estimates are not fully reliable. They say prospective studies with standard seizure phenotyping are needed.

Why it is not certain yet

Comparative data were sparse. Those 2 studies were too varied to pool. Study quality varied and definitions were inconsistent. These problems weaken the prevalence estimates.

Source

Prevalence of epilepsy and seizures in frontotemporal dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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