Accelerated Brain Atrophy on Serial Computed Tomography

Abdullah Bin Zahid, Artem Mikheev, Neha Srivatsa, James Babb, Uzma Samadani, Henry Rusinek
2016 Journal of computer assisted tomography  
Objective-To validate CT-based longitudinal markers of the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Materials and Methods-We retrospectively studied 33 AD patients and 39 non-demented patients with other neurological illnesses (Non-AD) having 4-12 CT exams of the head, over 3.9 ± 1.7 years. At each time point we applied an automatic software to measure whole brain, CSF, and intracranial space (ICS) volumes. Longitudinal measures were then related to disease status and time since first scan
more » ... hierarchical models. Results-Absolute brain volume loss accelerated for non-AD patients by 0.86 ml/yr 2 (95%C.I. 0.64 to 1.08 ml/yr 2 ) and 1.5× faster, i.e. 1.32 ml/yr 2 (95%C.I. 1.09 to 1.56 ml/yr 2 ) for AD patients (p= 0.006). In terms of brain volume normalized to ICS, the acceleration in atrophy rate for non-AD patients was 0.0578%/yr 2 (95%C.I. 0.0389%/yr 2 to 0.0767%/yr 2 ) again, 1.5× faster, i.e. 0.0919%/yr 2 (95% C.I. 0.0716%/yr 2 to 0.1122%/yr 2 ) for AD patients (p= 0.017). This translates to an increase in atrophy rate from 0.5% to 1.4% in AD versus to 1.1% in non-AD group after 10 years. Conclusion-Brain volumetry on CT reliably detected accelerated volume loss in AD and significantly lower acceleration factor in age-matched non-AD patients, leading to the possibility of its use to monitor the progression of cognitive decline and dementia. Age Acceleration of 0.09% -AD group Acceleration of 0.06% -non-AD group annual atrophy rate brain volume (ml) brain lost (ml) annual atrophy rate brain volume (ml) brain lost (ml) 85
doi:10.1097/rct.0000000000000435 pmid:27224227 pmcid:PMC5025331 fatcat:zsik6cmacnh6pbcrkogku6hdfq