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Visual assessment of medial temporal atrophy on MR films in Alzheimer’s disease: comparison with volumetry

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Abstract

Background and aims: To test the agreement of a visual rating scale of medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) with linear and volumetric assessments, and to test its accuracy in discriminating between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and controls. Methods: Participants were 28 patients with AD and 29 healthy controls. MTA was evaluated according to Scheltens’ five-point scale. Its accuracy in distinguishing AD patients from controls was evaluated as a stand-alone measure and in association with linear [width of the temporal horn (WTH)] and volumetric [hippocampal volume (HV)] measures. Results: The agreement of this visual rating scale with the other MTA measures was statistically significant (vs WTH and vs HV, p for trend <0.00005). The visual rating scale showed a good accuracy in distinguishing AD patients from controls [area under the curve (AUC) 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.79-0.98]. Although the accuracy of the visual rating scale improved in association with linear WTH (AUC 0.91, 95% CI 0.82–0.99) and in association with HV (AUC 0.93, 95% CI 0.86–1.00), the improvement was not significant. Conclusions: The visual rating scale of MTA, easily applicable in clinical practice, shows good agreement with more demanding quantitative methods, and can discriminate AD patients from controls with good accuracy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Epidemiology and Neuroimaging, IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio — FBF, Via Pilastroni 4, 25125, Brescia, Italy

    Lorena Bresciani, Roberta Rossi, Cristina Testa, Cristina Geroldi, Samantha Galluzzi & Giovanni B. Frisoni MD

  2. Machine Vision Laboratory, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Cristina Testa

  3. Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Mikko P. Laakso & Hilkka Soininen

  4. Department of Clinical Radiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Mikko P. Laakso

  5. Neuroradiology Service, Ospedale Borgo Trento, Verona, Italy

    Alberto Beltramello

  6. AFaR-Associazione Fatebenefratelli per la Ricerca, Roma, Italy

    Giovanni B. Frisoni MD

Authors
  1. Lorena Bresciani
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  2. Roberta Rossi
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  3. Cristina Testa
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  4. Cristina Geroldi
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  5. Samantha Galluzzi
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  6. Mikko P. Laakso
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  7. Alberto Beltramello
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  8. Hilkka Soininen
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  9. Giovanni B. Frisoni MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni B. Frisoni MD.

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Bresciani, L., Rossi, R., Testa, C. et al. Visual assessment of medial temporal atrophy on MR films in Alzheimer’s disease: comparison with volumetry. Aging Clin Exp Res 17, 8–13 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03337714

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03337714

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