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The pilot European Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative of the European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium
Author(s) -
Frisoni Giovanni B.,
Henneman Wouter J.P.,
Weiner Michael W.,
Scheltens Philip,
Vellas Bruno,
Reynish Emma,
Hudecova Jaroslava,
Hampel Harald,
Burger Katharina,
Blennow Kaj,
Waldemar Gunhild,
Johannsen Peter,
Wahlund LarsOlof,
Zito Giancarlo,
Rossini Paolo M.,
Winblad Bengt,
Barkhof Frederik
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2008.04.009
Subject(s) - neuroimaging , alzheimer's disease , disease , alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative , medicine , neuroscience , psychology
Background In North America, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has established a platform to track the brain changes of Alzheimer's disease. A pilot study has been carried out in Europe to test the feasibility of the adoption of the ADNI platform (pilot E‐ADNI). Methods Seven academic sites of the European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium (EADC) enrolled 19 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 22 with AD, and 18 older healthy persons by using the ADNI clinical and neuropsychological battery. ADNI compliant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood samples were shipped to central repositories. Medial temporal atrophy (MTA) and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) were assessed by a single rater by using visual rating scales. Results Recruitment rate was 3.5 subjects per month per site. The cognitive, behavioral, and neuropsychological features of the European subjects were very similar to their U.S. counterparts. Three‐dimensional T1‐weighted MRI sequences were successfully performed on all subjects, and cerebrospinal fluid samples were obtained from 77%, 68%, and 83% of AD patients, MCI patients, and controls, respectively. Mean MTA score showed a significant increase from controls (left, right: 0.4, 0.3) to MCI patients (0.9, 0.8) to AD patients (2.3, 2.0), whereas mean WMH score did not differ among the three diagnostic groups (between 0.7 and 0.9). The distribution of both MRI markers was comparable to matched US‐ADNI subjects. Conclusions Academic EADC centers can adopt the ADNI platform to enroll MCI and AD patients and older controls with global cognitive and structural imaging features remarkably similar to those of the US‐ADNI.