title: The validity of criteria for the evaluation of cerebral atrophy by computed tomography.
abstract: Computed tomography of the brain was used in evaluating demented and nondemented elderly people. The incidence of convulutional atrophy and ventricular enlargement correlated well with pathologic and pneumoencephalographic examination of a similar population. Computed tomography also showed certain instances of dementia without atrophy and evidence of atrophy without dementia. The absence of brain atrophy in a demented patient should prompt a search for a potentially treatable cause of the dementia. The authors discuss criteria for diagnosing atrophy by computed tomography and conclude that, because of its noninvasive nature, it is a valuable aid in screening demented patients for treatable diseases.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014695:Cerebral Ventriculography; D003201:Computers; D003704:Dementia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011011:Pneumoencephalography; D014056:Tomography, X-Ray