Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic value of combined semiquantitative and quantitative assessment of brain atrophy in the diagnostic workup of the behavioural-variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).
Methods: Three neuroradiologists defined brain atrophy grading and identified atrophy pattern suggestive of bvFTD on 3D-T1 brain MRI of 112 subjects using a semiquantitative rating scale (Kipps'). A quantitative atrophy assessment was performed using two different automated software (Quantib® ND and Icometrix®). A combined semiquantitative and quantitative assessment of brain atrophy was made to evaluate the improvement in brain atrophy grading to identify probable bvFTD patients.
Results: Observers' performances in the diagnosis of bvFTD were very good for Observer 1 (k value = 0.881) and 2 (k value = 0.867), substantial for Observer 3 (k value = 0.741). Semiquantitative atrophy grading of all the observers showed a moderate and a poor correlation with the volume values calculated by Icometrix® and by Quantib® ND, respectively. For the definition of neuroradiological signs presumptive of bvFTD, the use of Icometrix® software improved the diagnostic accuracy for Observer 1 resulting in an AUC of 0.974, and for Observer 3 resulting in a AUC of 0.971 (p-value < 0.001). The use of Quantib® ND software improved the diagnostic accuracy for Observer 1 resulting in an AUC of 0.974, and for Observer 3 resulting in a AUC of 0.977 (p-value < 0.001). No improvement was observed for Observer 2.
Conclusion: Combining semiquantitative and quantitative brain imaging evaluation allows to reduce discrepancies in the neuroradiological diagnostic workup of bvFTD by different readers.
Keywords: Behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD); Brain atrophy; Brain volumetry; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neuroradiology.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.