title: Inclusion criteria provide heterogeneity in baseline profiles of patients with mild cognitive impairment: comparison of two prospective cohort studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered to represent a transitional stage between ageing and Alzheimer's disease (AD). To aim at identifying neuroimaging measures associated with cognitive changes in healthy elderly and MCI patients, longitudinal multicentre studies are ongoing in several countries. The patient profiles of each study are based on unique inclusion criteria.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study is to clarify differences in baseline profiles of MCI patients between Studies on Diagnosis of Early Alzheimer's Disease-Japan (SEAD-J) and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and to examine the association between baseline profiles and risk of early conversion to AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  SEAD-J recruited 114 patients from nine facilities in Japan. A total of 200 patients in ADNI with fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) were enrolled from the USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Baseline profiles were statistically analysed. For FDG-PET at a time of inclusion, associations between each profile and cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRgl) were examined using SPM5 software. In each study, the ratio of conversion to AD within the 1-year and 2-year period after inclusion was investigated and differences in baseline profiles between AD converters and non-converters were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SEAD-J included MCI patients with more severe verbal memory deficits and extracted patients with higher depressive tendencies. These differences were likely to be associated with criteria. SEAD-J exhibited a higher rate of conversion within 1 year compared with ADNI (24.5% vs 13.5%). In FDG-PET analyses of SEAD-J, AD converters within 1 year showed more severe decrease of FDG uptake in bilateral inferior parietal regions compared with non-converters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different inclusion criteria provided differences in baseline profiles. The severity of memory deficit might cause increase of the AD conversion within 1 year. Clinical outcomes of multicentre studies for early diagnosis of AD should be interpreted carefully considering profiles of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Neuroimaging, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Kengo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato