Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:52:04.609Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Structural MRI

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2011

Mike P. Wattjes
Mike P. Wattjes*
Affiliation:
Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Radiology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Mike P. Wattjes, MD, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Radiology, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Phone: +31 20-444-0341; Fax: +31 20-444-0397. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Clinical neuroimaging is increasingly being used in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and has become one of the most important paraclinical tools in the diagnosis of dementia. According to current guidelines, neuroimaging, preferably magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), should be performed at least once during the diagnostic work-up of patients with suspected or definite dementia. MRI is helpful in identifying or excluding potentially treatable causes of dementia; however, these account only for a small proportion of dementias. In addition, MRI is able to support the clinical diagnosis in a memory clinic setting by identifying certain patterns of atrophy and vascular damage. Visual rating scales are well-established methods in the clinical routine for the assessment and quantification of regional/global cortical atrophy, hippocampal atrophy and vascular damage. In addition, MRI is able to detect certain aspects of pathology associated with dementia, such as cerebral microbleeds which are related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy and Alzheimer pathology. This review paper aims to give an overview of the application of structural MRI in the diagnostic procedure for memory clinic patients in terms of excluding and supporting the diagnosis of various diseases associated with dementia.

Keywords

dementianeuroimagingmagnetic resonance imagingAlzheimer's disease
Type
Review Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 23 , Supplement S2: Clinical use of neuroimaging in dementia: an international perspective , September 2011 , pp. S13 - S24
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bastos-Leite, A. J., van Straaten, E. C., Scheltens, P., Lycklama, G. and Barkhof, F. (2004). Thalamic lesions in vascular dementia: low sensitivity of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging. Stroke, 35, 415–419.Google Scholar
Bouwman, F. H. et al. (2007). CSF biomarkers and medial temporal lobe atrophy predict dementia in mild cognitive impairment. Neurobiology of Aging, 28, 1070–1074.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boxer, A. L. et al. (2006). Patterns of brain atrophy that differentiate corticobasal degeneration syndrome from progressive supranuclear palsy. Archives of Neurology, 63, 81–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braak, H. and Braak, E. (1991). Neuropathological staging of Alzheimer-related changes. Acta Neuropathology, 82, 239–259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chabriat, H. et al. (1998). Patterns of MRI lesions in CADASIL. Neurology, 51, 452–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cordonnier, C. and van der Flier, W. M. (2011) Brain microbleeds and Alzheimer's disease: innocent observation or key player? Brain, 134, 335–344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cordonnier, C., van der Flier, W. M., Sluimer, J. D., Leys, D., Barkhof, F. and Scheltens, F. (2006). Prevalence and severity of microbleeds in a memory clinic setting. Neurology, 66, 1356–1360.Google Scholar
Davatzikos, C., Bhatt, P., Shaw, L. M., Batmanghelich, K. N. and Trojanowski, J. Q. (2010). Prediction of MCI to AD via MRI, CSF biomarkers, and pattern classification. Neurobiology of Aging. Epublished ahead of print. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2010.05.023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeCarli, C. S. (2006). When two are worse than one: stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 67, 1326–1327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de la Torre, J. C. (2004). Alzheimer's disease a neurodegenerative or a vascular disorder? Data, dogma, and dialects. Lancet Neurology, 3, 184–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubois, B. et al. (2007). Research criteria for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: revising the NINCDS-ADRA criteria. Lancet Neurology, 6, 734–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fazekas, F. et al. (1987). MR signal abnormalities at 1.5T in Alzheimer's disease and normal ageing. AJR American Journal of Roentgenology, 149, 351–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frisoni, G. B. et al. (2007). The topography of grey matter involvement in early and late onset Alzheimer's disease. Brain, 130, 720–730.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frisoni, G. B., Fox, N. C., Jack, C. R. Jr, Scheltens, P. and Thompson, P. M. (2010). The clinical use of structural MRI in Alzheimers disease. Nature Review of Neurology, 6, 67–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goos, J. D. et al. (2009). Patients with Alzheimer disease with multiple microbleeds: relation with cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and cognition. Stroke, 40, 3455–3460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goos, J. D. et al. (2010). Incidence of cerebral microbleeds: a longitudinal study in a memory clinic population. Neurology, 74, 1954–1960.Google Scholar
Gorno-Tempini, M. L. et al. (2011). Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology, 76, 1006–1014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guermazi, A. et al. (2007). Neuroradiological findings in vascular dementia. Neuroradiology, 49, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hort, J. et al. (2010). EFNS guidelines for the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease. European Journal of Neurology, 17, 1236–1348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inzitari, D. et al. (2009). Changes in white matter as determinant of global functional decline in older independent outpatients: three year follow-up of LADIS (leukariosis and disability) study cohort. BMJ, 339, 2477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jack, C. R. Jr. et al. (1998). Rate of medial temporal lobe atrophy in typical aging and Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 51, 993–999.Google Scholar
Jones, B. F. et al. (2006). Differential regional atrophy of the cingulate gyrus in Alzheimer disease: a volumetric MRI study. Cerebral Cortex, 16, 1701–1708.Google Scholar
Johnston, S. C. et al. (2004). Cognitive impairment and decline are associated with carotid artery disease in patients without clinically evident cerbrovascular disease. Annals of Internal Medicine, 140, 237–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalaria, R. N. and Ballard, C. (1999). Overlap between pathology of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 13 (Suppl. 3), S115–S123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karas, G. et al. (2007). Precuneus atrophy in early-onset Alzheimer's disease: a morphometric structural MRI study. Neuroradiology, 49, 967–976.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirsch, W. et al. (2009). Serial susceptibility weighted MRI measures brain iron and microbleeds in dementia. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 17, 599–609.Google Scholar
Likeman, M. et al. (2005). Visual assessment of atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of pathologically confirmed young-onset dementias. Archives of Neurology, 62, 1410–1415.Google Scholar
Linn, J. et al. (2010). Prevalence of superficial siderosis in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Neurology, 74, 1346–1350.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D. and Stadlan, E. M. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: a report of the NINCDS-ADRDA work group under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease. Neurology, 34, 939–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neary, D. et al. (1998). Fronto-temporal lobar degeneration: a consensus on clinical diagnostic criteria. Neurology, 51, 1546–1554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oba, H. et al. (2005). New and reliable MRI diagnosis for progressive supranuclear palsy. Neurology, 64, 2050–2055.Google Scholar
Pasquier, F. et al. (1996) Inter- and intraobserver reproducibility of cerebral atrophy assessment on MRI scan with hemispheric infarcts. European Neurology, 36, 268–272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poels, M. M. et al. (2011). Incidence of cerebral microbleeds in the general population: the Rotterdam Scan Study. Stroke 42, 656–661.Google Scholar
Pohjasvaara, T., Mätyla, R., Ylikoski, R., Kaste, M. and Erkinjunti, T. (2000). Comparison of different clinical criteria (DSM-III, ADDTC, ICD-10, NINDS-AIREN, DSM-IV) for the diagnosis of vascular dementia. National Institute of Neurological disorders and Stroke-Association Internationale pour la recherché at l'enseignement en neurosciences. Stroke, 31, 2952–2957.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riidha, B. H. et al. (2006). Tracking atrophy in familial Alzheimer's disease: a serial MRI study. Lancet Neurology, 5, 828–834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Román, C.G. et al. (1993). Vascular dementia: diagnostic criteria for research studies. Report of the NINDS-AIREN international workshop. Neurology, 43, 250–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosen, H. J. et al. (2002). Patterns of brain atrophy in frontotemporal dementia and semantic dementia. Neurology, 58, 198–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheltens, P. et al. (1992). Atrophy of the medial temporal lobe on MRI in probable Alzheimer's disease and normal ageing brain: diagnostic value and neuropsychological correlates. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 55, 967–972.Google Scholar
Scheltens, P. et al. (1998). White matter changes on CT and MRI: an overview of visual rating scales. Eur Neurol, 39, 80–89.Google Scholar
Scheltens, P., Fox, N., Barkhof, F. and De Carli, C. (2002). Structural magnetic resonance imaging in the practical assessment of dementia: beyond exclusion. Lancet Neurology, 1, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiga, Y. et al. (2004). Diffusion-weighted MRI abnormalities as an early diagnostic marker for Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. Neurology, 63, 443–449.Google Scholar
Shiino, A. et al. (2008). Different atrophic patterns in early- and late-onset Alzheimer's disease and evaluation of clinical utility of a method of regional z-score analysis using voxel-based morphometry. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 26, 175–186.Google Scholar
Tschampa, H. J., Zerr, I. and Urbach, H. (2007). Radiological assessment of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. European Radiology, 17, 1200–1211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tzourio, C. et al. (2003). Effects of blood pressure lowering with perindipril and indamide therapy on dementia and cognitive decline in patients with cerebrovascular disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 163, 1069–1075.Google Scholar
van Straaten, E. C. W., Scheltens, P. and Barkhof, F. (2004). MRI and CT in the diagnosis of vascular dementia. Journal of Neurology Science, 226, 9–12.Google Scholar
Vernooij, M. W., Ikram, M. A., Hofman, A., Krestin, G. P., Breteler, M. M. and van der Lugt, A. (2009). Superficial siderosis in the general population. Neurology, 73, 202–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vitali, P. et al. (2008). Neuroimaging in dementia. Seminars in Neurology, 28, 467–483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warmuth-Metz, M. et al. (2001). Measurement of the midbrain diameter on routine magnetic resonance imaging: a simple and accurate method of differentiating between Parkinson disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. Archives of Neurology, 58, 1076–1079.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wattjes, M. P. et al. (2009). Diagnostic imaging of patients in a memory clinic: comparison of MR imaging and 64-detector row CT. Radiology, 253, 174–183.Google Scholar
Zeidler, M. et al. (2000). The pulvinar sign on magnetic resonance imaging in variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. Lancet, 355, 1412–1418.Google Scholar