The Role of Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as an Early Detector of Cognitive Impairment

BACKGROUND: Along with the increase of the health and prosperity level will affect the life expectancy in Indonesia, there has also been an increase in degenerative disease cases. One of the problems arises is cognitive impairment. The mild version of this impairment is often associated with the increase risk that will eventually lead to dementia. Therefore, early detection of this impairment is necessary. OBJECTIVE: This study is aimed at proving the correlation between Fazekas scale on brain MRI and MoCA-Ina score in defining the degree of cognitive impairment. METHODS: This study employed observational analytic design and cross sectional study for its data collection method. The Fazekas scale on brain MRI of 32 patients was read by 3 radiologist, while the MoCA-Ina scoring was done by a competent neurologist. Both tests were done double blindly. Later on, the correlation between Fazekas scale and MoCA-Ina score would be assessed using Spearman Correlation. RESULTS: Statistical calculation conducted using Spearman Correlation reveals that the coefficient is -0.519 with significant score (P) 0.002, which is smaller than α: 0.05. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a strong negative correlation between Fazekas scale and MoCA-Ina score. CONCLUSION: Fazekas scale evaluation on brain MRI is necessary to be performed as it helps predicting the decline of one's cognitive function, so that an early therapy can be acted upon to prevent dementia in the future.