title: Detection of early Alzheimer's disease in MCI patients by the combination of MMSE and an episodic memory test.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a heterogeneous clinical entity that comprises the prodromal phase of Alzheimer's disease (Pr-AD). New biomarkers are useful in detecting Pr-AD, but they are not universally available. We aimed to investigate baseline clinical and neuropsychological variables that might predict progression from MCI to AD dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients underwent a complete clinical and neuropsychological evaluation at baseline and every 6 months during a two-year follow-up period, with 54 out of 109 MCI patients progressing to dementia (50 of them progressed to AD dementia), and 55 remaining as stable MCI (S-MCI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A combination of MMSE and California Verbal Learning Test Long Delayed Total Recall (CVLT-LDTR) constituted the best predictive model: subjects scoring above 26/30 on MMSE and 4/16 on CVLT-LDTR had a negative predictive value of 93.93% at 2 years, whereas those subjects scoring below both of these cut-off scores had a positive predictive value of 80.95%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pr-AD might be distinguished from S-MCI at baseline using the combination of MMSE and CVLT-LDTR. These two neuropsychological predictors are relatively brief and may be readily completed in non-specialist clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, IFIMAV and CIBERNED, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (University of Cantabria), Avda Valdecilla s/n, 39008-Santander, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pozueta
authors.forename: Eloy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Rodríguez
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vazquez-Higuera
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mateo
authors.forename: Pascual
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Juan
authors.forename: Soraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González-Perez
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berciano
authors.forename: Onofre
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Combarros
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests