Title | Fully Automatic MRI-Based Hippocampus Volumetry Using FSL-FIRST: Intra-Scanner Test-Retest Stability, Inter-Field Strength Variability, and Performance as Enrichment Biomarker for Clinical Trials Using Prodromal Target Populations at Risk for Alzheimer's |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2017 |
Authors | Cavedo, E, Suppa, P, Lange, C, Opfer, R, Lista, S, Galluzzi, S, Schwarz, AJ, Spies, L, Buchert, R, Hampel, H |
Corporate Authors | Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Alzheimer Precision Medicine Initiative (APMI) |
Journal | J Alzheimers Dis |
Volume | 60 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 151-164 |
Date Published | 2017 |
ISSN | 1875-8908 |
Abstract | BACKGROUND: MRI-based hippocampus volume is a core clinical biomarker for identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD). OBJECTIVE: To assess robustness of automatic hippocampus volumetry with the freely available FSL-FIRST software with respect to short-term repeat and across field strength imaging. FSL-FIRST hippocampus volume (FIRST-HV) was also evaluated as enrichment biomarker for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) trials. METHODS: Robustness of FIRST-HV was assessed in 51 healthy controls (HC), 74 MCI subjects, and 28 patients with AD dementia from ADNI1, each with two pairs of back-to-back scans, one at 1.5T one at 3T. Enrichment performance was tested in a second sample of 287 ADNI MCI subjects. RESULTS: FSL-FIRST worked properly in all four scans in 147 out of 153 subjects of the first sample (49 HC, 72 MCI, 26 AD). In these subjects, FIRST-HV did not differ between the first and the second scan within an imaging session, neither at 1.5T nor at 3T (p≥0.302). FIRST-HV was on average 0.78% larger at 3T compared to 1.5T (p = 0.012). The variance of the FIRST-HV difference was larger in the inter-field strength setting than in the intra-scanner settings (p CONCLUSION: The impact of intra-scanner test-retest and inter-field strength variability of FIRST-HV on clinical tasks is negligible. In addition, FIRST-HV is useful for enrichment in clinical MCI trials. |
DOI | 10.3233/JAD-161108 |
Alternate Journal | J. Alzheimers Dis. |
PubMed ID | 28777748 |