Grading white matter lesions on CT and MRI: a simple scale.
Open Access
- 1 December 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by BMJ in Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
- Vol. 53 (12), 1080-1083
- https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.53.12.1080
Abstract
We developed and tested a simple three-point scale for grading white matter lesions in anterior and posterior regions of the brain. Twenty four CT scans and 24 MRI scans were separately judged by 11 and five observers, respectively, on the presence and severity of white matter lesions. The observers were radiologists and neurologists. For CT scans, these periventricular changes were graded according to their extent as absent, or partly involving the white matter, or extending up to the subcortical region. The MRI lesions were graded as no lesion or only a single one, multiple focal lesions, and multiple confluent lesions. The pairwise agreements of all possible combinations of observers for each scan were corrected for chance (kappa statistics; maximal agreement 1.0). The weighted kappa value, for anterior and posterior regions combined, was 0.63 for CT scans, and 0.78 for MRI scans. This three-point scale for two separate regions seems suitable as a basis for cross-sectional or longitudinal studies of large series of patients.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Neuropsychological Test Findings in Subjects With LeukoaraiosisArchives of Neurology, 1989
- Interobserver agreement for the assessment of handicap in stroke patients.Stroke, 1988
- Nuclear magnetic resonance image white matter lesions and risk factors for stroke in normal individuals.Stroke, 1988
- Comparison of Magnetic Resonance and Roentgen Ray Computed Tomography in DementiaArchives of Neurology, 1987
- Leukoencephalopathy in patients with ischemic stroke.Stroke, 1987
- Incidental subcortical lesions identified on magnetic resonance imaging in the elderly. II. Postmortem pathological correlations.Stroke, 1986
- Incidental subcortical lesions identified on magnetic resonance imaging in the elderly. I. Correlation with age and cerebrovascular risk factors.Stroke, 1986
- Computed tomographic analysis of brain morphometrics in 30 healthy men, aged 21 to 81 yearsAnnals of Neurology, 1985
- Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy: a clinical and radiological investigation.Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 1981
- White matter abnormality in cerebral atrophy: clinicoradiological correlations.Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 1980