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Measuring atrophy in Alzheimer disease: a serial MRI study over 6 and 12 months
Schott JM, Price SL, Frost C, Whitwell JL, Rossor MN, Fox NC.. Neurology, 2005-07-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background Global brain atrophy rate calculated from serial MRI scans may be a surrogate marker of Alzheimer disease (AD) progression. Few studies have assessed atrophy in AD over short intervals. Methods Thirty-eight patients with AD and 19 control subjects had MRI scans at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year. Ventricular change and whole-brain volume loss were calculated directly from the regions manually outlined on registered scans and using the automated (boundary shift integral [BSI]) technique. Sample sizes required to power placebo-controlled treatment trials over 6 months and 1 year were calculated using these techniques. Results Increased rates of ventricular expansion and whole-brain atrophy were seen in AD compared with control subjects at both 6 and 12 months using manual and automated techniques (p Conclusions In short-interval studies, using the ventricular boundary shift integral instead of the brain boundary shift integral may allow for disease-modifying effects to be demonstrated using significantly smaller sample sizes. This potential benefit must be balanced against the possibility that ventricular volumes may be more likely to be affected by factors other than neurodegeneration.
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APA 7th
Schott, J. M., Price, S. L., Frost, C., Whitwell, J. L., Rossor, M. N., & Fox, N. C. (2005). Measuring atrophy in Alzheimer disease: a serial MRI study over 6 and 12 months. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000167542.89697.0f
Vancouver
Schott JM, Price SL, Frost C, Whitwell JL, Rossor MN, Fox NC. Measuring atrophy in Alzheimer disease: a serial MRI study over 6 and 12 months. Neurology. 2005. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000167542.89697.0f. PMID: 16009896.
BibTeX
@article{schott2005-16009896,
author = {Schott, J. M. and Price, S. L. and Frost, C. and Whitwell, J. L. and Rossor, M. N. and Fox, N. C.},
title = {{Measuring atrophy in Alzheimer disease: a serial MRI study over 6 and 12 months}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2005},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000167542.89697.0f},
pmid = {16009896},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000167542.89697.0f}
}
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Key findings
- Results Increased rates of ventricular expansion and whole-brain atrophy were seen in AD compared with control subjects at both 6 and 12 months using manual and automated techniques (p < 0.001).
Why it matters
In this small study, patients with Alzheimer disease showed faster ventricular expansion and whole-brain atrophy than controls at both 6 and 12 months. The authors suggest that using the ventricular boundary shift integral could allow disease-modifying effects to be shown with smaller sample sizes in short trials, though ventricular volumes may be affected by factors other than neurodegeneration.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (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 | 2005 — 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 162 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.0 citations a year over 23 year(s) since 2005 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 10 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 7 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Nick C. Fox: h-index 173 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16009896) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
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