Quantification of tissue damage in AD using diffusion tensor and magnetization transfer MRI

The authors measured mean diffusivity (D̄) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) of the brain from 18 patients with AD and 16 healthy control subjects. The peak heights of cortical gray matter (cGM) D̄ (p < 0.001) and MTR (p < 0.001) histograms were lower and average cGM D̄ (p < 0.01) higher in patients with AD than in control subjects. A composite MR score based on brain volume and cGM MTR peak height was correlated with patient cognitive impairment (r = 0.65, p = 0.003). This preliminary study presents a novel approach to quantify AD-related tissue damage in-vivo.

[1]  M. Folstein,et al.  Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease , 1984, Neurology.

[2]  K M Heilman,et al.  Atrophy of the hippocampus, parietal cortex, and insula in Alzheimer's disease: a volumetric magnetic resonance imaging study. , 1997, Neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, and behavioral neurology.

[3]  G. Fein,et al.  Changes of hippocampal N-acetyl aspartate and volume in Alzheimer's disease , 1997, Neurology.

[4]  Nick C Fox,et al.  Visualisation and quantification of rates of atrophy in Alzheimer's disease , 1996, The Lancet.

[5]  P. Scheltens.  Early diagnosis of dementia: neuroimaging , 1999, Journal of Neurology.

[6]  Marco Rovaris,et al.  Sensitivity and reproducibility of volume change measurements of different brain portions on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with multiple sclerosis , 2000, Journal of Neurology.

[7]  S. Folstein,et al.  "Mini-mental state". A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. , 1975, Journal of psychiatric research.

[8]  M Cercignani,et al.  Magnetisation transfer ratio and mean diffusivity of normal appearing white and grey matter from patients with multiple sclerosis , 2001, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[9]  G. Fein,et al.  Axonal injury and membrane alterations in Alzheimer's disease suggested by in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging , 1994, Annals of neurology.

[10]  M Takasaki,et al.  Increased water diffusion in cerebral white matter in Alzheimer's disease. , 1997, Gerontology.