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Is radiological evaluation as good as computer-based volumetry to assess hippocampal atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease?

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Introduction

Hippocampus volumetry is a useful surrogate marker for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Our purpose was to compare visual assessment of medial temporal lobe atrophy made by radiologists with automatic hippocampal volume and to compare their performances for the classification of AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitively normal (CN).

Methods

We studied 30 CN, 30 MCI and 30 AD subjects. Six radiologists with two levels of expertise performed two readings of medial temporal lobe atrophy. Medial temporal lobe atrophy was evaluated on coronal three-dimensional T1-weighted images using Scheltens scale and compared with hippocampal volume obtained using a fully automatic segmentation method (Spearman’s rank coefficient).

Results

Visual assessment of medial temporal lobe atrophy was correlated with hippocampal volume (p < 0.01). Classification performances between MCI converter and CN was better using volumetry than visual assessment of non-expert readers whereas classification of AD and CN did not differ between visual assessment and volumetry except for the first reading of one non-expert (p = 0.03).

Conclusions

Visual assessment of medial temporal lobe atrophy by radiologists was well correlated with hippocampal volume. Radiological assessment is as good as computer-based volumetry for the classification of AD, MCI non-converter and CN and less good for the classification of MCI converter versus CN. Use of Scheltens scale for assessing hippocampal atrophy in AD seems thus justified in clinical routine.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Christie Fock-Yee, Flore Viry and Patricia Ziggiatti Cavalheiro (AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Département de Neuroradiologie, Paris, France) for their data interpretation. Data collection and sharing for this project was funded by the ADNI (National Institutes of Health Grant U01 AG024904). ADNI is funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and through generous contributions from the following: Abbott, AstraZeneca AB, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai Global Clinical Development, Elan Corporation, Genentech, GE Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, Innogenetics, Johnson and Johnson, Eli Lilly and Co., Medpace, Inc., Merck and Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Schering-Plough, Synarc, Inc., as well as non-profit partners the Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, with participation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Private sector contributions to ADNI are facilitated by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (www.fnih.org). The grantee organisation is the Northern California Institute for Research and Education, and the study is coordinated by the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study at the University of California, San Diego. ADNI data are disseminated by the Laboratory for Neuro Imaging at the University of California, Los Angeles. This research was also supported by NIH grants P30 AG010129, K01 AG030514, and the Dana Foundation.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroradiology, AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47-83, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Claire Boutet, Aurélie Drier, Audrey Pellot, Didier Dormont & Stéphane Lehéricy

  2. Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Centre de Recherche de l’Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, UMR-S975, Paris, France

    Claire Boutet, Marie Chupin, Olivier Colliot, Marie Sarazin, Aurélie Drier, Didier Dormont & Stéphane Lehéricy

  3. Inserm, U975, Paris, France

    Claire Boutet, Marie Chupin, Olivier Colliot, Marie Sarazin, Aurélie Drier, Didier Dormont & Stéphane Lehéricy

  4. CNRS, UMR 7225, Paris, France

    Claire Boutet, Marie Chupin, Olivier Colliot, Marie Sarazin, Aurélie Drier, Didier Dormont & Stéphane Lehéricy

  5. ICM-Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris, France

    Claire Boutet, Marie Chupin, Olivier Colliot, Marie Sarazin, Aurélie Drier, Didier Dormont & Stéphane Lehéricy

  6. Centre de Neuroimagerie de Recherche-CENIR, Paris, France

    Claire Boutet, Aurélie Drier, Didier Dormont & Stéphane Lehéricy

  7. Equipe Cogimage-CRICM, 47, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Marie Chupin & Olivier Colliot

  8. Department of Neurology, Institut de la Mémoire et de la Maladie d’Alzheimer-IM2A, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47-83, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Marie Sarazin

  9. Urgences Cérébro-Vasculaires, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47-83, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Gurkan Mutlu

  10. Inserm, Université Paris 7-Denis Diderot, Hôpital Saint-Louis, U717, Paris, France

    Gurkan Mutlu

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  1. Claire Boutet
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  2. Marie Chupin
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  3. Olivier Colliot
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  9. Stéphane Lehéricy
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And the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claire Boutet.

Additional information

Data used in the preparation of this article were obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database (http://www.loni.ucla.edu/ADNI). As such, the investigators within the ADNI contributed to the design and implementation of ADNI and/or provided data but did not participate in analysis or writing of this report. A complete listing of ADNI investigators can be found at: http://www.loni.ucla.edu/ADNI/Data/ADNI_Authorship_List.pdf.

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Boutet, C., Chupin, M., Colliot, O. et al. Is radiological evaluation as good as computer-based volumetry to assess hippocampal atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease?. Neuroradiology 54, 1321–1330 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-012-1058-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-012-1058-0

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