Against a background of an ever-increasing number of patients, new management options, and novel imaging modalities, neuroimaging is playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis of dementia. This up-to-date, superbly illustrated book aims to provide a practical guide to the effective use of neuroimaging in the patient with cognitive decline. It sets out the key clinical and imaging features of the wide range of causes of dementia and directs the reader from clinical presentation to neuroimaging and on to an accurate diagnosis whenever possible. After an introductory chapter on the clinical background, the available "toolbox" of structural and functional neuroimaging techniques is reviewed in detail, including CT, MRI and advanced MR techniques, SPECT and PET, and image analysis methods. The imaging findings in normal ageing are then discussed, followed by a series of chapters that carefully present and analyze the key imaging findings in patients with dementias. A structured path of analysis follows the main presenting feature: disorders associated with primary gray matter loss, with white matter changes, with brain swelling, etc. Throughout, a practical approach is adopted, geared specifically to the needs of clinicians (neurologists, radiologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians) working in the field of dementia, for whom this book should prove an invaluable resource.

Clinical background: Definition of dementia. Prevalence of incidence. Nosological approach. Differential diagnosis

The toolbox: Structural imaging. Feature extraction. Advanced MR techniques. SPECT and PET
Normal Ageing: Brain volume loss in normal aging. Widened Virchow-Robin spaces. Lacunes. Age-related white matter changes. Brain tissue alteration
Primary gray matter loss: Alzheimer s disease. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Dementia with Parkinsonism. Dementia in other movement disorders. Prion-linked dementias
Vascular dementia: History and nosology. Large vessel disease. Small vessel disease. Systemic disorders
Disorders mainly affecting white matter: Infections. Inflammatory disorders. Inborn errors of metabolism. Toxic leukencephalopathy and dementia. Trauma
Dementias with associated brain swelling: Giant VRS. Infections. Neoplastic diseases. Paraneoplastic syndromes. Normal pressure hydrocephalus. Arteriovenous malformation and fistula
Diagnostic algorithms
Disease monitoring.