Keywords:
Neuroradiology brain, MR, Computer Applications-Detection, diagnosis, Dementia
Authors:
A. JOSHI, J. Desai, R. Kulkarni, M. Jadhav; Pune/IN
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-1750
Aims and objectives
WHO states that around 50 million people in the whole world are suffering from dementia with an increase of 10 million cases every year.[1] Dementia is a common neurodegenerative disorder which is generally found in people above 55 years of agewhich causes progressive deterioration of cognitive domains which includes executive function,
attention etc.
and decline in cognitive ability to perform daily activitiesover a period of time which is not part of the normal aging.The common cause for dementia is degeneration ofneurons which causes loss of brain volume which is also called as atrophy.[3][4] Certain amount of atrophy is commonly seen in old ages but in cases of dementia there is abnormal atrophy of brain which is chronic i.e.
this atrophy is progressive for over the amount of time.
If this atrophy is detected and treated at an early stage then it might delay or slow down the process of neurodegeneration.[5]Diagnostic methods which are currently used for detection of dementia are comprehensive clinical evaluation,
cognitive assessment,
thorough history taking and medical imaging methods such as MRI and FDG-PET are used.[6][7]In addition to these methods volumetry based structural MRI can be used,
as it is sensitive to even the mild atrophy changes.
It can also provide the supportive evidence to the neurodegenration in such cases.[6]