Work

Dissecting the clinical and pathological prognosis of MCI patients who reverted to normal cognition: a longitudinal study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Controversy existed in the prognosis of reversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to normal cognition (NC). We aim to depict the prognostic characteristics of cognition, neuroimaging, and pathology biomarkers, as well as the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia for MCI reverters. METHODS: A total of 796 non-demented participants (mean age = 73.3 years, female = 54.4%, MCI = 55.7%), who were divided into MCI reverters (n = 109), stable MCI (n = 334), and stable NC (n = 353) based on 2-year diagnosis changes, were subsequently followed up for 6 years. Cox proportional hazard regression models were applied to assess the AD dementia hazard. Linear mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the differences in changing rates of cognitive scores, brain volumes, brain metabolism, and AD biomarkers among three groups. RESULTS: (FDR-Q = 0.008). The above-mentioned differences were not found between MCI reverters and stable NC (FDR-Q > 0.050). CONCLUSIONS: Reversion from MCI to NC predicts a favorable prognosis of pathological, neurodegenerative, and cognitive trajectory.

Source: BMC Medicine

DOI: 10.1186/s12916-025-04092-0