Comparative MR analysis of linear and volumetric measurements in diagnosing Alzheimer disease / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the discriminative ability of MRI linear measurements and volumetric measurements between patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and control subjects, and to evaluate their clinical value. Methods The study group consisted of 32 patients with probable Alzheimer disease and 32 healthy control subjects. Linear measurements and volumetric measurements of the bilateral hippocampal formations, temporal horns of lateral ventricle, parahippocampal gyri, and entorhinal cortices were performed on the serial reconstructed MR images. Discriminant analysis was used to identify measurements independently contributing to discriminating between AD and control subjects. Results With a stepwise method, the right height of temporal horn and right thickness of entorhinal cortex of linear measurements entered the function. The specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of this function were 96.9%, 84.4%, and 90.6%, respectively. The left entorhinal cortex and left hippocampus of volumetric measurements entered the other discriminant function. The specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of the second function were 100.0%, 90.6%, and 95.3%, respectively. All the linear and volumetric measurements of cerebral regions were significantly different between AD group and control subjects(t= -6.80～12.53,P