Role of neuroimaging in multidisciplinary approach towards Non-Alzheimer’s dementia

Satya Narayana Patro, Rafael Glikstein, Prasad Hanagandi, Santanu Chakraborty

Dementia is defined as chronic deterioration of intellectual function and cognitive skills significant enough to interfere with the ability to perform daily activities. Recent advances in the treatment of dementia have renewed interest in the use of various neuroimaging techniques that can assist in the diagnosis and differentiation of various subtypes. Neuroimaging and computational techniques have helped the radiological community to monitor disease progression of various neurodegenerative conditions presenting with dementia, such as Alzheimer disease, frontotemporal lobe dementia (FTLD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and multisystem atrophy-cerebellar variant (MSA-C), and their response to newer therapies. Prompt identification of treatable or reversible forms of dementia, such as tumours, subdural haemorrhage and intracranial dAVF, is crucial for the effective management of these conditions. It is also prudent to recognize the imaging spectrum of metabolic, infective and autoimmune diseases with rapidly progressing dementia, such as methanol toxicity, central pontine myelinolysis (CPM), delayed post hypoxic leukoencephalopathy (DPHL), HIV, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Sjogren's syndrome, multiple sclerosis (MS), radiation necrosis and Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS), which are difficult to treat and often require palliative care. This pictorial review emphasizes various non-Alzheimer's dementia entities and discusses their imaging highlights. Teaching Points • Non Alzheimer's dementia constitutes a broad spectrum of conditions. • Neuroimaging plays an important role in differentiating treatable from irreversible dementia. • Neuroimaging is often non-specific in early stages of neurodegenerative conditions with dementia. • Neuroimaging plays an important role in the multimodal approach towards management of dementia.