Comparison of Automated Brain Volume Measures by NeuroQuant vs. Freesurfer in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Effect of Slice Thickness.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the inter-method reliability and volumetric differences between NeuroQuant (NQ) and Freesurfer (FS) using T1 volume imaging sequence with different slice thicknesses in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 80 patients diagnosed with MCI at our memory clinic. NQ and FS were used for volumetric analysis of three-dimensional T1-weighted images with slice thickness of 1 and 1.2 mm. Inter-method reliability was measured with Pearson correlation coefficient (r), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and effect size (ES).

RESULTS: Overall, NQ volumes were larger than FS volumes in several locations: whole brain (0.78%), cortical gray matter (5.34%), and white matter (2.68%). Volume measures by NQ and FS showed good-to-excellent ICCs with both 1 and 1.2 mm slice thickness (ICC=0.75-0.97, ES=-1.0-0.73 vs. ICC=0.78-0.96, ES=-0.9-0.77, respectively), except for putamen, pallidum, thalamus, and total intracranial volumes. The ICCs in all locations, except the putamen and cerebellum, were slightly higher with a slice thickness of 1 mm compared to those of 1.2 mm.

CONCLUSION: Inter-method reliability between NQ and FS was good-to-excellent in most regions with improvement with a 1-mm slice thickness. This finding indicates that the potential effects of slice thickness should be considered when performing volumetric measurements for cognitive impairment.