title: Magnetic resonance imaging in Alzheimer's disease: from diagnosis to monitoring treatment effect.
abstract: Quantitative outcome variables in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are of interest because of their low longitudinal variability compared with that of repeated clinical and cognitive measurements. Conventional MR-based volumetry of structures within and beyond the medial temporal lobe has proven to be useful in the diagnostic work up of early AD patients, and measures of atrophy have the potential to monitor the efficacy of disease-modifying agents. The extensive application of new non-conventional MR-based techniques to the study of AD, such as proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, diffusion tensor MRI, and functional MRI, has undoubtedly improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, and might lead to the identification of additional useful markers of disease progression. This review summarizes the main results obtained from the application of conventional and non-conventional MRI in AD patients, and supports their more extensive use in studies of disease evolution and clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina, 60, 20132 Milan, Italy. m.filippi@hsr.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Filippi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Agosta
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Frisoni
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Stefano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bizzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bozzali
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falini
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rocca
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sorbi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*