Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and brain CT findings according to the severity of brain atrophy
| No/mild brain atrophy (n = 27) | Severe brain atrophy (n = 24) | P valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline characteristics | |||
| Age (years) | 82 (79–88) | 85 (83–90) | ns |
| Male | 12 (44) | 9 (38) | ns |
| Hypertension | 16 (59) | 10 (42) | ns |
| Diabetes mellitus | 5 (19) | 1 (4) | ns |
| ECOG Performance status | ns | ||
| 0–2 | 19 (70) | 14 (58) | |
| 3–4 | 8 (30) | 10 (42) | |
| Dementia status | ns | ||
| Oriented | 18 (67) | 12 (50) | |
| Disoriented | 9 (33) | 12 (50) | |
| Major tranquilizer use | 7 (26) | 4 (17) | ns |
| Follow (years) | 3.7 (1.9–4.0) | 2.9 (2.7–3.9) | ns |
| Brain CT findings | |||
| Cortical atrophy, severe | |||
| Frontal lobe | 0 (0) | 21 (88) | <0.001 |
| Parietal lobe | 0 (0) | 18 (75) | <0.001 |
| Temporal lobe | 0 (0) | 10 (42) | <0.001 |
| Occipital lobe | 0 (0) | 3 (13) | <0.001 |
| Four cortical sulci ratio | 0.09 (0.08–0.12) | 0.15 (0.11–0.17) | <0.001 |
| Ventricular dilatation | |||
| Evans ratio | 0.38 (0.35–0.43) | 0.36 (0.32–0.42) | ns |
| Third ventricular ratio | 0.08 (0.06–0.11) | 0.08 (0.06–0.09) | ns |
| White matter lesions, diffuse | |||
| Frontal | 10 (40) | 13 (59) | ns |
| Parieto-occipital | 11 (42) | 12 (57) | ns |
| Temporal | 6 (29) | 4 (31) | ns |
| Lacunar infarction (<2 mm) | ns | ||
| Non | 12 (44) | 8 (33) | |
| Single | 8 (30) | 9 (38) | |
| Multiple | 7 (26) | 7 (29) | |
Notes: Values are n (%) or medians (interquartile range).
a
χ2 test or Wilcoxon test. Severe brain atrophy was defined as severe atrophy in any of the frontal, temporal, parietal or occipital lobe. Four cortical sulci ratio = the sum of the widths of the four widest sulci at the two highest scanning levels/maximal transversal intracranial width. Evans ratio = maximal frontal horn width/maximal transversal intracranial width. Third ventricular ratio = maximal width of the third ventricle/maximal transversal intracranial width.