Affiliations: [a] Clinical Neuroscience Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| [b] Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| [c] Department of Neurology, Kangwon National University Hospital, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea
| [d] Medical Research Collaborating Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: SangYun Kim, MD, PhD, Clinical Neuroscience Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 82, Gumi-ro 173 Beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707, Korea. Tel.: +82 31 787 7462; Fax: +82 31 787 4059; E-mail: neuroksy@snu.ac.kr.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: Background: Although medial temporal atrophy (MTA) is a useful imaging marker of the progression to dementia in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), substantial numbers of MCI patients without MTA still progress to dementia. Objective: We investigated whether visual ratings of posterior atrophy (PA) on magnetic resonance imaging show independent predictive value for the progression to dementia in MCI patients. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of elderly patients who visited Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between 2004 and 2012. A total of 148 patients who were initially diagnosed with MCI were followed for up to 3 years (median 22 months) to determine whether they progressed to dementia. We used 4-point and 5-point visual rating scales to assess PA and MTA, respectively. PA and MTA scores were dichotomized into normal (no atrophy) or abnormal (atrophy) in each patient. We performed a Cox regression analysis to examine the hazard ratios (HRs) of PA and MTA for the progression to dementia with adjustment for age, APOE ɛ4 allele status, and baseline Mini-Mental State Examination score. Results: Among the study population, 47 patients progressed to dementia. Visual assessment of the MRI scans revealed that 67 patients (45.3%) showed PA, whereas 85 patients (57.3%) showed MTA. The HRs with 95% confidence intervals for PA and MTA were 2.516 (1.244–5.091) and 4.238 (1.680–10.687), respectively. The predictive values of visually assessed PA and MTA remained significant, independent of the covariates. Conclusion: Visual assessment of PA has independent predictive value for progression to dementia in MCI patients.
