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MRIs were certainly performed on autistic patients in order to determine that certain physical variations in brain structure are associated with autism. But if

MRIs were certainly performed on autistic patients in order to determine that certain physical variations in brain structure are associated with autism. But if your goal is to diagnose autism, there are much cheaper (and more accurate) ways to do so, and if your goal is to treat it, the MRI results don't really inform your treatment options, so the consensus is probably that an MRI would be nothing more than an extremely expensive way to get a vague confirmation of the diagnosis. (Of course, if the author's hypothesis is correct, that may be about to change.)

gnufied 11y ago
It seems that Dandy-Walker Syndrome is a known cause of some of the symptoms that show up in people on the Spectrum. i.e - there is an overlap. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/dandy-walker-syndrome http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/dandy-walker-syndrome And Dandy-Walker syndrome appears to be directly linked to Cyst growth and hence at least diagnosiable via MRI.
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
  Dandy-Walker Syndrome is rare, though. MRI scanning all people diagnosed with autism just to check for it would be not be justified.
  - tcbawo 11y ago
    I imagine a study would be warranted, if one does not already exist. If a statistically significant link could be established, why not run tests? How much does it cost to have an MRI performed? How does it compare to the lifetime medical (and social) costs of an autism sufferer?
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - gnufied 11y ago
      http://www.medifee.com/tests/mri-scan-cost/ http://www.medifee.com/tests/mri-scan-cost/ in India. So to the tune of $200 max. However in US it costs on average $3000 USD. :(
    - CydeWeys 11y ago
      I'm just guessing here, but if even 1% of autism cases were caused by cysts or other treatable brain abnormalities, and hypothetical interventions had a 25% success rate, you'd end up spending $1.2M per case of autism cured (using the other poster's figure of $3K for an MRI scan). That seems well worth it to me. Certainly the cost delta between a functional member of society and someone that requires costly support their whole life is way more than $1.2M over a lifetime. Of course this is like Drake's equation; taking an unknown and breaking it down into made-up numbers doesn't actually increase certainty, but fortunately, these numbers are a lot more knowable than the coefficients in Drake's equation. It's simply that I don't know them.

gnufied 11y ago

It seems that Dandy-Walker Syndrome is a known cause of some of the symptoms that show up in people on the Spectrum. i.e - there is an overlap. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/dandy-walker-syndrome http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/dandy-walker-syndrome And Dandy-Walker syndrome appears to be directly linked to Cyst growth and hence at least diagnosiable via MRI.

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
Dandy-Walker Syndrome is rare, though. MRI scanning all people diagnosed with autism just to check for it would be not be justified.
- tcbawo 11y ago
  I imagine a study would be warranted, if one does not already exist. If a statistically significant link could be established, why not run tests? How much does it cost to have an MRI performed? How does it compare to the lifetime medical (and social) costs of an autism sufferer?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - gnufied 11y ago
    http://www.medifee.com/tests/mri-scan-cost/ http://www.medifee.com/tests/mri-scan-cost/ in India. So to the tune of $200 max. However in US it costs on average $3000 USD. :(
  - CydeWeys 11y ago
    I'm just guessing here, but if even 1% of autism cases were caused by cysts or other treatable brain abnormalities, and hypothetical interventions had a 25% success rate, you'd end up spending $1.2M per case of autism cured (using the other poster's figure of $3K for an MRI scan). That seems well worth it to me. Certainly the cost delta between a functional member of society and someone that requires costly support their whole life is way more than $1.2M over a lifetime. Of course this is like Drake's equation; taking an unknown and breaking it down into made-up numbers doesn't actually increase certainty, but fortunately, these numbers are a lot more knowable than the coefficients in Drake's equation. It's simply that I don't know them.