Diagnosis of suspected Alzheimer's disease is improved by automated analysis of regional cerebral blood flow

Accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, remains difficult. In order to assess whether fully automated stereotactic surface projection (3D-SSP) presentation contributes to the diagnosis of AD by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of transaxial display with and without 3D-SSP analysis as well as the correlation between cerebral perfusion in different cortical areas and the mini mental score (MMS). Seventy-two patients referred because of cognitive impairment were included in the study. According to the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke (NINCDS) and the Alzheimer's disease and Related Disorders Association (ADRDA) criteria, 27 patients were diagnosed as having probable AD while 45 were classified as non-AD patients. 3D-SSP was used to quantify the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) acquired from SPECT imaging. Compared with the transaxial section presentation alone, 3D-SSP presentation improved the area under the receiver operating curve (p