Imaging biomarkers of dementia: recommended visual rating scales with teaching cases

ABSTRACT: The diagnostic work up of dementia may benefit from structured reporting of CT and/or MRI and the use of standardised visual rating scales. We advocate a more widespread use of standardised scales as part of the workflow in clinical and research evaluation of dementia. We propose routine clinical use of rating scales for medial temporal atrophy (MTA), global cortical atrophy (GCA) and white matter hyperintensities (WMH). These scales can be used for evaluation of both CT and MRI and are efficient in routine imaging assessment in dementia, and may improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Our review provides detailed imaging examples of rating increments in each of these scales and a separate teaching file. The radiologist should relate visual ratings to the clinical assessment and other biomarkers to assist the clinician in the diagnostic decision. TEACHING POINTS: • Clinical dementia diagnostics would benefit from structured radiological reporting. • Standardised rating scales should be used in dementia assessment. • It is important to relate imaging findings to the clinically suspected diagnosis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13244-016-0521-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.