An Expanded Role for Neuroimaging in the Evaluation of Mild Cognitive Impairment

New technology allows neuroradiologists to change their approach to elderly patients with memory loss

August 2015
SMIL Radiology Report

A NEW WAY 

With the development of computer soft - ware capable of performing volumetric  calculations combined with a large comparison database of normal controls, Ram  says the evaluation can be done in min - utes and allows him to accurately identify  morphologic changes of the brain that are  typical of Alzheimer’s disease. 

A 2013 study compared volumetric  MRI imaging with NeuroQuant analysis  in 20 (published site)

patients with traumatic brain injury  to a radiologist’s traditional method of  visual inspection. They found that the NeuroQuant analysis identified 10 of 20  patients (50 percent) with atrophy com - pared to 2 of 20 (10 percent) identified  by the radiologist’s traditional method of  visual inspection.  

Ram says SMIL is using CorTechs Labs’  FDA-approved NeuroQuant software  for MRI brain imaging because of its  reliability and established track record  at respected academic medical centers  around the country.

“Advantages of ordering a brain MRI  with NeuroQuant analysis in a patient with memory loss can be twofold,” he  says. “First, patients with Alzheimer’s dis - ease can be diagnosed sooner and more  accurately.”  

The second advantage is for patients  suspected of having Alzheimer’s who  have a normal NeuroQuant study result. 

“Rather than pursuing a diagnosis of  Alzheimer’s disease, clinicians can redou - ble their efforts to search for another  source of memory loss,” Ram says.  

REFERENCE: Rathakrishnan B, Doraiswamy P, Petrella J.  Science to practice: Translating automated  brain MRI volumetry in Alzheimer’s disease  from research to routine diagnostic use in  the work-up of dementia.  www.frontiersin.org .  2014;4,:3.

Ross D, Ochs A, Seabaugh J, et al. Man  versus machine: Comparison of radiologists’  interpretations and NeuroQuant ® volumetric  analyses of brain MRIs in patients with  traumatic brain injury.  J Neuropsychiatry Clin  Neurosci.  2013;25(1):32-39.