Potential risk of Vascular Dementia (VD) / Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) / Alzheimer Disease (AD)

 

qEEG screening

Service code s9010

Please note that screening does NOT result in a medical diagnosis; it gives a probabilistic estimate of risk. In other words, the screening gives information on the presence of a pattern in the qEEG that is often – but not always – found in persons with a history of a particular condition.

Short description

Clinical dementia is a fairly broad-based decline of brain function. Most definitions center on the patient’s intellectual decline and memory dysfunction according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth Edition (DSM-5).

Vascular Dementia (VD) is a dementia of non-degenerative causes. VD is a cerebro-vascular disease that leads to a progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning due to regular alterations in or interruptions of the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain by dysfunctional or diseased vascular system.

Neurodegenerative dementia can be of two types: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer Disease (AD).

MCI is considered as pre-clinical AD. MCI is a condition of the elderly brain intermediate between normal cognition and dementia, being mainly characterized by objective memory disturbances in the absence of other cognitive deficits or more generally characterized by all cognitive changes observed in ageing that are insufficient to meet dementia criteria.

AD is the most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive and intellectual deficits and behaviour disturbance.

A recent review prepared for the American Psychiatric Electrophysiological Association summarized extensive evidence for the clinical utility of qEEG to help diagnose dementia and to help delineate the underlying aetiology(1).

Scientific research(2,3,4) has demonstrated that the total accuracy of qEEG in AD varies between 69% and 100% with the average value being 81%. The overall predictive accuracy is 90% between baseline qEEG features and probability of future decline(5). Sensitivity is 89% and specificity is 84% for the correct prediction of any deterioration (including decline to MCI, as well as conversion to AD). If considering only those subjects who in fact converted to dementia (AD), then sensitivity reaches 96% and specificity is 94%. For those subjects who decline to MCI(5) the sensitivity is 95% and specificity is 94%.

The neuropathological process starts years before the clinical manifestation of the disease. The data suggest that neurophysiological endophenotype of non-demented individuals at genetic risk for AD, may be revealed decades before the first clinical symptoms of presumable dementia(6).

Results

By performing this qEEG screening you will get the information on:

  • whether you have a qEEG pattern typical for VD/MCI/AD and
  • what is a risk of developing AD in future.

Notes:

  • The results of qEEG analysis are put in context of published scientific studies, the individual’s health history, complaints, symptoms and psychometric and other evaluations (if available).
  • Present psychotropic medication use may affect the results.

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References

  1. Hughes JR, John ER: Conventional and quantitative electroencephalography in psychiatry. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1999; 11: 190–208.
  2. Soininen H, Partanen J, Laulumaa V, Helkala EL, Laakso M, Reikkinen PJ: Longitudinal EEG spectral analysis in early stage of Alzheimer's disease. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1989; 72: 290-297.
  3. Strijers RL, Scheltens P, Jonkman EJ, de Rijke W, Hooijer C, Jonker C. Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in community-dwelling elderly: A comparison of EEG and MRI. Dementia 1997; 8: 198-202.
  4. Rodriguez G, Nobili F, Rocca G: Quantitative electroencephalography and regional cerebral blood flow: discriminant analysis between Alzheimer's patients and healthy controls. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 1998; 9(5): 274-83.
  5. Prichep LS, John ER, Ferris SH, Rausch L, Fang Z, Cancro R, Torossian C, Reisberg B. Prediction of longitudinal cognitive decline in normal elderly with subjective complaints using electrophysiological imaging. Neurobiology of Aging 2006; 27: 471–481.
  6. Ponomareva NV, Korovaitseva GI, Rogaev EI: EEG alterations in non-demented individuals related to apolipoprotein E genotype and to risk of Alzheimer disease. Neurobiology of Aging 2008; 29: 819–827.