Assessment of cognitive impairment: the role of CT.
The value of CT as a routine screening procedure in the investigation of cognitive impairment is being increasingly challenged. To address this issue, we reviewed the records of 175 patients with intellectual deficits admitted to a Behavioural Neurology Unit over a two-year period. In the vast majority of cases, ie. 82%, the CT served essentially to confirm the clinical impression and added no new diagnostic information that impacted the management of the presenting problem. In 15% of cases the CT scan was helpful for diagnosis, especially in the differentiation between Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia.
Varga
M
M
Department of Medicine, (Division of Geriatrics), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Wortzman
G
G
Freedman
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015161:Dementia, Multi-Infarct / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed