The radial width of the temporal horn in mild cognitive impairment.
OBJECTIVE
The diagnosis of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) (or mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) is loaded with a high degree of uncertainty. The aim was to test the accuracy of a computed tomography-based (CT-based) marker of medial temporal lobe atrophy, the radial width of the temporal horn (rWTH), in MCI.


METHODS
Ten MCI and 42 AD patients and 29 nondemented controls underwent brain CT on the temporal lobe plane (slice thickness = 2 mm). The rWTH was taken on CT films with a precision caliper placed at the tip of the temporal horn radial to the curvature of the hippocampal head region.


RESULTS
When specificity was fixed at 95%, the sensitivity for the detection of AD was 39/42 (93%) and that for the detection of MCI was 8/10 (80%).


CONCLUSIONS
The rWTH is a measure sensitive to the regional brain atrophy common in early AD.
Frisoni
Giovanni B
GB
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Neuroimaging, IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio FBF-National Center for Research and Care of Alzheimer's Disease, via Pilastroni 4, 25125-Brescia, Italy. papers@centroalzheimer.it
Rossi
Roberta
R
Beltramello
Alberto
A
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D001284:Atrophy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed