CT AND MRI FINDINGS AMONG - AFRICAN-AMERICANS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE, VASCULAR DEMENTIA, AND STROKE WITHOUT DEMENTIA

We compared CT and MRI findings among 78 Alzheimer's disease (AD), 66 vascular dementia (VaD), and 41 stroke without dementia (SWD) African- American patients to identify possible neuroimaging indicators of deme ntia. The patients with AD and VaD were generally older and less educa ted than those with SWD. VaD and SWD patients had a higher frequency o f cardiovascular disease risk factors than those with AD. In multivari ate analysis, the CT data showed that the presence of white matter les ions, nonlacunar infarcts, and left subcortical infarcts were predicto rs of VaD when compared with AD, whereas atrophy of the third ventricl e and equal distribution of white matter lesions distinguished VaD fro m SWD. On MRI, atrophy of the temporal sulci, temporal horns, and the third ventricle, and right hemisphere infarcts, distinguished AD from VaD, while atrophy of the third ventricle differentiated VaD from SWD. These data suggest that atrophy, especially at the level of the third ventricle, presence of infarcts, and white matter lesions may be usef ul predictors of dementia subtype. Furthermore, the qualitative CT and MRI findings among our African-American patients were similar to thos e reported in other dementia studies.