LAUSR

Objective The aim of this study was to develop a method for discriminating between patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and healthy subjects using layer analysis of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and xenon solubility coefficient (&lgr;) in xenon-enhanced computed tomography (CT). Methods Xenon-enhanced CT was performed on 27 patients with AD (81.7 [3.3] years old) and 15 healthy volunteers (78.6 [4.0] years old) using a wide volume CT. For each subject, we created the first- (surface) to sixth-layer images of CBF and &lgr; for the 6 viewing directions (layer thickness, 5 mm). For the discriminant views, receiver operating characteristic curves for the ratio of CBF to &lgr; were created to identify patients with AD. Results For the third- and fourth-layer left lateral views, which were designated as the discriminant views, areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were 96.8% and 97.4%, respectively. Conclusions With the use of the discriminant views obtained by xenon-enhanced CT, we could effectively discriminate between patients with AD and healthy subjects using both CBF and &lgr;.