Hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease: a 3-year follow-up MRI study.
BACKGROUND
Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), it has been proposed that serial imaging studies tracking the course of progression might improve the diagnostic accuracy of AD.


METHODS
Longitudinal changes in hippocampal volumes were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) over a period of 3 years in 27 AD patients and 8 control subjects.


RESULTS
A statistically nonsignificant trend towards accelerated volume loss in the AD group compared to control subjects was observed. During the study period, the average shrinkage of the hippocampal volume ranged from -2.2% to -5.8% in control subjects, and from -2.3% to -15.6% in AD patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The observed changes at an individual level were small, and within the accuracy range of the measurements. Therefore, serial MRI of the hippocampus did not offer any advantage over a single MRI to support the diagnosis of AD in this study sample.
Laakso
M P
MP
Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
Lehtovirta
M
M
Partanen
K
K
Riekkinen
P J
PJ
Soininen
H
H
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index