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Amnestic MCI or prodromal Alzheimer's disease?
Dubois B, Albert ML.. The Lancet. Neurology, 2004-04-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
The concept of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) draws attention to cognitive changes not severe enough to warrant the diagnosis of dementia. As used today, it covers many pathological disorders and characterises a diverse population of patients who attend memory clinics. Our concern is the underlying heterogeneity. We suggest that it will soon be possible (if it is not already) to identify the underlying pathological disorders before the affected patients meet the criteria of dementia, thanks to specific neuropsychological assessments, neuroimaging, and biomarkers. In particular, patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most important subgroup of patients with MCI, can already be identified before appearance of the fully developed clinical dementia syndrome. Accordingly, this paper proposes diagnostic criteria for "prodromal AD".
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APA 7th
Dubois, B., & Albert, M. L. (2004). Amnestic MCI or prodromal Alzheimer's disease? The Lancet. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(04)00710-0
Vancouver
Dubois B, Albert ML. Amnestic MCI or prodromal Alzheimer's disease? The Lancet. Neurology. 2004. doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(04)00710-0. PMID: 15039037.
BibTeX
@article{dubois2004-15039037,
author = {Dubois, B. and Albert, M. L.},
title = {{Amnestic MCI or prodromal Alzheimer's disease?}},
journal = {The Lancet. Neurology},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1016/s1474-4422(04)00710-0},
pmid = {15039037},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(04)00710-0}
}
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Key findings
- We suggest that it will soon be possible (if it is not already) to identify the underlying pathological disorders before the affected patients meet the criteria of dementia, thanks to specific neuropsychological assessments, neuroimaging, and biomarkers.
Why it matters
This paper proposes that Alzheimer's disease can already be identified before full dementia appears, using specific neuropsychological tests, neuroimaging, and biomarkers. It puts forward diagnostic criteria for 'prodromal AD' but does not report testing a treatment or cure.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Lancet. Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | The Lancet Neurology: journal h-index 457 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2004 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 544 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 22.7 citations a year over 24 year(s) since 2004 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 11.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 19 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 42 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Martin L. Albert: h-index 51 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Inserm: institution h-index 1,988 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15039037) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
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