title: The Italian Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (I-ADNI): validation of structural MR imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The North American Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (NA-ADNI) was the first program to develop standardized procedures for Alzheimer's disease (AD) imaging biomarker collection.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We describe the validation of acquisition and processing of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in different Italian academic AD clinics following NA-ADNI procedures.
  
  
  METHODS
  373 patients with subjective memory impairment (n = 12), mild cognitive impairment (n = 92), Alzheimer's dementia (n = 253), and frontotemporal dementia (n = 16) were enrolled in 9 Italian centers. 22 cognitively healthy elderly controls were also included. MRI site qualification and MP-RAGE quality assessment was applied following the NA-ADNI procedures. Indices of validity were: (i) NA-ADNI phantom's signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratio, (ii) proportion of images passing quality control, (iii) comparability of automated intracranial volume (ICV) estimates across scanners, and (iv) known-group validity of manual hippocampal volumetry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results on Phantom and Volunteers scans showed that I-ADNI acquisition parameters were comparable with those one of the ranked-A ADNI scans. Eighty-seven percent of I-ADNI MPRAGE images were ranked of high quality in comparison of 69% of NA-ADNI. ICV showed homogeneous variances across scanners except for Siemens scanners at 3.0 Tesla (p = 0.039). A significant difference in hippocampal volume was found between AD and controls on 1.5 Tesla scans (p < 0.001), confirming known group validity test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has provided standardization of MRI acquisition and imaging marker collection across different Italian clinical units and equipment. This is a mandatory step to the implementation of imaging biomarkers in clinical routine for early and differential diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy Cognition, Neuroimaging and Brain Diseases Laboratory, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière (CRICM-UMRS 975), Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris, France.
authors.forename: Enrica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cavedo
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Redolfi
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione SDN per la Ricerca e l'Alta Formazione in Diagnostica Nucleare, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Angeloni
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of High resolution EEG, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Babiloni
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lizio
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta," Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiapparini
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta," Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bruzzone
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta," Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aquino
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, Radiology Department, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sabatini
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, Radiology Department, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alesiani
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, Radiology Department, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherubini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University Of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione SDN per la Ricerca e l'Alta Formazione in Diagnostica Nucleare, Naples, Italy Department of Studies of Institutions and Territorial Systems, University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soricelli
authors.affiliation: Neurol. University "Campus Biomedico" Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vernieri
authors.affiliation: Neurol. University "Campus Biomedico" Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scrascia
authors.affiliation: IRCCS C. Mondino National Institute of Neurology Foundation and University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sinforiani
authors.affiliation: IRCCS C. Mondino National Institute of Neurology Foundation and University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chiarati
authors.affiliation: IRCCS C. Mondino National Institute of Neurology Foundation and University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bastianello
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montella
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corbo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo", Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo", Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baglieri
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo", Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Salvo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroimaging, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.affiliation: IRCCS "Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù", Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Quattrocchi
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione Poliambulanza, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cobelli
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy Memory Clinic and LANVIE - Laboratory of Neuroimaging of Aging, University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Giovanni B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Frisoni
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007558:Italy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; hippocampus; intracranial volume; magnetic resonance imaging; mild cognitive impairment; standardized operating procedures