Introduction: Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities-edema (ARIA-E) is associated with anti-amyloid beta monoclonal antibody treatment. ARIA-E severity may be assessed using the Barkhof Grand Total Scale (BGTS) or the 3- or 5-point Severity Scales of ARIA-E (SSAE-3/SSAE-5). We assessed inter- and intra-reader correlations between SSAE-3/5 and BGTS.
Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging scans were collected from 75 participants in the SCarlet RoAD and Marguerite RoAD studies. Three neuroradiologists reviewed scans at baseline and at follow-up. Concordance in dichotomized ARIA-E ratings was assessed for a range of BGTS thresholds.
Results: SSAE-3/5 scores correlated with BGTS scores, with high inter-reader intraclass correlation coefficients across all scales. There was high agreement in dichotomized ratings for SSAE-3 > 1 versus BGTS > 3 for all readers (accuracy 0.85-0.93) and between pairs of readers.
Discussion: SSAE-3/5 showed high degrees of correlation with BGTS, potentially allowing seamless transition from the BGTS to SSAE-3/5 for ARIA-E management.
Keywords: ARIA‐E; Alzheimer's disease; Barkhof Grand Total Scale; SSAE; Severity Scale of ARIA‐E; amyloid‐related imaging abnormalities; correlation; edema; magnetic resonance imaging.
© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.