[CT in senile dementia and depression]

This article reviews a series of investigations, which evaluated CT in senile dementia and depression in late life. Although both ventricular and sulcal dilatation were strongly associated with the clinical diagnosis of SDAT, such radiological changes were also found in healthy controls, with an overlap of about 15-20%. Cognitive decline correlated equally well with the diagnosis of SDAT, but within the demented group CT changes correlated poorly, if at all, with intellectual impairment. It is argued that CT is useful in the assessment of dementia only in conjunction with other clinical and psychometric data. In old age depression ventricular enlargement predicted an increased mortality at two years, and a reduced brain density, which may have reflected an ageing process within the CNS. With improvements in the technology and analysis of CT further clinical and research progress can be expected.