Evaluation of a practical visual MRI rating scale of brain white matter hyperintensities for clinicians based on largest lesion size regardless of location.
Document Type
Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Age-related white matter hyperintensities have prognostic implications, but no accepted clinical standard exists for their assessment. We propose a simple objective visual rating system by using 3T brain MR imaging.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR imaging from 559 participants was processed by using an automated method to determine WMH volumes and evaluated with a new visual rating scale based on the single largest WMH lesion diameter regardless of location. The reproducibility of the visual system was assessed. The association of WMH visual scores and automated volumes was then compared with cognitive scores from the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which was available for 510 participants.
RESULTS: Inter-reader reproducibility was good for subsamples with both high (n=52) and low (n=40) prevalence of large automated WMH volumes (agreement of 67% and 87.5%, κ=0.71 and 0.76, respectively). Correlation between increased WMH and cognitive deficit measurements was equal for our visual ratings and automated volumes (Spearman ρ=0.118 and 0.109; P values=0.008 and 0.014, respectively). The visual scale retained a significant association with MoCA score after adjusting for age, sex, and education (standardized β=-0.087, P=.042).
CONCLUSIONS: We propose a simple visual WMH scoring system suitable for use as a baseline evaluation in clinical practice.
Medical Subject Headings
Adult; Aged; Brain; Cognition Disorders; Female; Humans; Leukoencephalopathies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Nerve Fibers, Myelinated; Observer Variation; Prevalence; Prognosis; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index
Publication Date
4-1-2013
Publication Title
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology
ISSN
1936-959X
Volume
34
Issue
4
First Page
797
Last Page
801
PubMed ID
23079403
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.3174/ajnr.A3283
Recommended Citation
King, K S; Peshock, R M; Warren, M W; Alhilali, L; Hulsey, K; McColl, R; Weiner, M F; Ayers, C; and Whittemore, A, "Evaluation of a practical visual MRI rating scale of brain white matter hyperintensities for clinicians based on largest lesion size regardless of location." (2013). Neurology. 1300.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurology/1300