Asymmetric cortical degenerative syndromes: an integrated approach to clinical and imaging review

The term asymmetric cortical degenerative syndromes (ACDSs) refers to any brain afflictions that result in selective atrophy, particularly with an asymmetric pattern. Regardless of the etiology, the resulting compromised profile reflects the affected topography, which correlates with the clinical findings, more than any specific neuropathologic entity.

ACDS can represent a diagnostic challenge, because of an overlap of clinical manifestations, especially in the early stages. Magnetic resonance techniques are useful to understand nuclear medicine studies and to confirm areas of focal atrophy by providing anatomic details and allowing an accurate correlation with several different clinical settings.

This article demonstrates a practical neuroradiologic approach for ACDS, including optimized imaging analysis (magnetic resonance and nuclear medicine studies), which correlates their patterns with clinical and pathologic findings of the most relevant disorders.