Ocena wartości badań wolumetrycznych TK głowy w rozpoznawaniu i różnicowaniu wybranych chorób otępiennych

Bibliogr. s. 12-13

Background: Aging of the societies and increasing age expectancy observed in the recent years has resulted in increased incidence of dementive diseases, which are more common in the elderly and cause currently serious diagnostic problems. For this reason, much effort has been focused on the possibility of early detection of dementive disorders, their diagnosis and institution applying of appropriate treatment as soon as possible. The aim of the study was to assess the value of volumetric head CT in the diagnostics and differentiation of the following dementive disorders: Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD) and mixed dementia (MD). Material/Methods: The study was carried out in a group of 78 patients diagnosed with dementia on the basis of clinical classifications (48 with AD, 15 with VaD and 15 with MD) and 15 control subjects. All the patients underwent head CT, followed by volumetric calculations of cortical and subcortical cerebral atrophy with own semi-automatic method. The following parameters were evaluated: cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume in the ventricular system, CSF volume in the subarachnoid space in the frontal, temporal and parieto-occipital regions, and the volume of the supratentorial portion of the brain. Then the results were subjected to statistical analysis to detect the differences in these parameters between the patients and controls, as well as among the patient subgroups with AD, VaD and MD. Results: More advanced atrophic changes were demonstrated in dementia patients in comparison with the control group. Most statistically significant differences were found in the MD group. No significant differences among the dementia subgroups were observed, except for larger amounts of CSF in the temporal area in MD patients in comparison with VaD ones. Conclusions: CT volumetry is an objective, quantitative method allowing to assess cerebral atrophy in patients with dementia. However, it has a limited value in differentiation of dementia types. CT volumetry used in long-term studies can be particularly useful for monitoring dementia patients and assessment of treatment results.