Diagnostic value of Alzheimer's disease-related individual structural volume measurements using IBASPM.

We validated the use of medial temporal volume measurements via the automated volumetric method of Individual Brain Atlases using Statistical Parametric Mapping (IBASPM) in screening for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We also determined the optimal cut-off values for hippocampal volumes. This study included T1-weighted MRI of 89 patients with AD and 33 normal controls. To determine age-specific cut-off values we grouped subjects according to age. The regional structural volumes of each group were measured using individual atlas-based volumetry with IBASPM. The normalized value of left hippocampal volume in patients with AD was significantly lower than that of normal controls in all age groups. The area under the curve values of the left hippocampus in receiver operating characteristic curves were also the largest in the medial temporal lobe, indicating that left hippocampal volume is the most useful factor in AD screening. The optimal cut-off values of the left hippocampus for diagnosing AD were 4.06 in the 60-64 year age group, 4.05 in the 65-69 group, 4.07 in the 70-74 group and 3.63 in patients older than 75. Measurements of left hippocampal volume using the IBASPM may be useful for AD screening in clinical practice, and could provide a useful biomarker for AD.