2015 Volume 26 Issue 2 Pages 119-123
Currently more than 600 brain check-up systems are conducted in Japan. They have contributed to early detection of unruptured cerebral aneurysms and silent brain lesions. There are increasing number of participants who expect to have examinations for dementia in addition to stroke. The Japan Brain Doc Society newly obligated brain doc institutes to include T2* images in MRI examination to detect cerebral microbleeds (CMB), because CMBs are known to be a strong risk factor for future cerebral hemorrhage and infarction. Amyloid angiopathy should also be considered when multiple CMBs distribute in the cerebral cortex or subcortex. The Brain Doc Society also obliged to carry out cognitive function tests, which are performed only in 30% of the whole brain doc institutes. Because extra resources are required for implementing these tests as routine, the guideline recommends a simple test using a computer (e.g. CADi: Cognitive Assessment for Dementia, iPad version). In addition to silent brain lesions a quantitative assessment of hippocampal volume is also recommended for MRI examination. In future resting-state functional MRI would provide useful information regarding functional connectivity for early detection of dementia.
