فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Dementia and its most common cause, Alzheimer's disease (AD), are growing health problems worldwide. In the pathological process, before the emergence of symptoms, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be used as a non-invasive method for measuring brain perfusion. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and variability of brain perfusion maps derived from pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL) MRI in a heterogeneous group of patients with cognitive disorders. Results: Based on the CBF maps, bilateral parietal hypoperfusion was significant in the AD and MCI groups (83 and 67%, respectively), compared to patients with depression or SMI (P < 0.01). However, it was significantly low in depressed patients (13%), and there was no hypoperfusion in the SMI group. There was a good interobserver agreement, based on the kappa coefficient in all groups (0.78%; 95% CI: 0.65 - 0.91). Conclusion: The PASL MRI technique can be valuable for evaluating cognitive disorders, as it is non-invasive, rapid, and easily accessible. Besides, the qualitative assessment of CBF maps using this technique is reproducible and feasible in routine clinical practice.