On the Cut-Off Value of the Anteroposterior Diameter of the Midbrain Atrophy in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2 Patients

Abstract

(1) Background: Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) is a term that refers to a group of hereditary ataxias, which are neurological diseases characterized by degeneration of the cells that constitute the cerebellum. Studies suggest that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) supports diagnoses of ataxias, and linear measurements of the aneteroposterior diameter of the midbrain (ADM) have been investigated using MRI. These measurements correspond to studies in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) patients and in healthy subjects. Our goal was to obtain the cut-off value for ADM atrophy in SCA2 patients. (2) Methods: This study evaluated 99 participants (66 SCA2 patients and 33 healthy controls). The sample was divided into estimations (80%) and validation (20%) samples. Using the estimation sample, we fitted a logistic model using the ADM and obtained the cut-off value through the inverse of regression. (3) Results: The optimal cut-off value of ADM was found to be 18.21 mm. The area under the curve (AUC) of the atrophy risk score was 0.957 (95% CI: 0.895–0.991). Using this cut-off on the validation sample, we found a sensitivity of 100.00% (95% CI: 76.84%–100.00%) and a specificity of 85.71% (95% CI: 42.13%–99.64%). (4) Conclusions: We obtained a cut-off value that has an excellent discriminatory capacity to identify SCA2 patients.