Diffusion abnormality in the posterior cingulum and hippocampal volume: correlation with disease progression in Alzheimer's disease.
The purpose of this study was to determine correlations among disease progression, diffusion abnormalities in the posterior cingulum and hippocampal volume in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We studied 25 AD patients by neuropsychological testing, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and by magnetic resonance imaging, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and high-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging. The MMSE score was used as an indicator of disease progression. Diffusion tensor tractography of the posterior cingulum was generated from the DTI; mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured in co-registered voxels along the posterior cingulum. Hippocampal volume was measured using automated voxel-based morphometry. The relationships among MMSE score, hippocampal volume and MD and FA of the posterior cingulum were evaluated by bivariate correlation analysis. MD in the posterior cingulum correlated significantly with the MMSE score. No significant correlation was seen between FA and MMSE score and between hippocampal volume and MMSE score, FA or MD. Our results suggest that MD in the posterior cingulum is a more sensitive indicator of progression of AD than FA of the posterior cingulum and hippocampal volume.
Nakata
Yasuhiro
Y
Department of Radiology, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
Sato
Noriko
N
Nemoto
Kiyotaka
K
Abe
Osamu
O
Shikakura
Shoko
S
Arima
Kunimasa
K
Furuta
Nobuo
N
Uno
Masatake
M
Hirai
Shigeo
S
Masutani
Yoshitaka
Y
Ohtomo
Kuni
K
Barkovich
A James
AJ
Aoki
Shigeki
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity