title: Hippocampal atrophy in people with memory deficits: results from the population-based IPREA study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical studies have shown that hippocampal atrophy is present before dementia in people with memory deficits and can predict dementia development. The question remains whether this association holds in the general population. This is of interest for the possible use of hippocampal atrophy to screen population for preventive interventions. The aim of this study was to assess hippocampal volume and shape abnormalities in elderly adults with memory deficits in a cross-sectional population-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included individuals participating in the Italian Project on the Epidemiology of Alzheimer Disease (IPREA) study: 75 cognitively normal individuals (HC), 31 individuals with memory deficits (MEM), and 31 individuals with memory deficits not otherwise specified (MEMnos). Hippocampal volumes and shape were extracted through manual tracing and the growing and adaptive meshes (GAMEs) shape-modeling algorithm. We investigated between-group differences in hippocampal volume and shape, and correlations with memory deficits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In MEM participants, hippocampal volumes were significantly smaller than in HC and were mildly associated with worse memory scores. Memory-associated shape changes mapped to the anterior hippocampus. Shape-based analysis detected no significant difference between MEM and HC, while MEMnos showed shape changes in the posterior hippocampus compared with HC and MEM groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings support the discriminant validity of hippocampal volumetry as a biomarker of memory impairment in the general population. The detection of shape changes in MEMnos but not in MEM participants suggests that shape-based biomarkers might lack sensitivity to detect Alzheimer's-like pathology in the general population.
authors: LKEB - Division of Image Processing,Department of Radiology,Leiden University Medical Center,Leiden,the Netherlands.
authors: Luca
authors: L
authors: Ferrarini
authors: LKEB - Division of Image Processing,Department of Radiology,Leiden University Medical Center,Leiden,the Netherlands.
authors: Baldur
authors: B
authors: van Lew
authors: LKEB - Division of Image Processing,Department of Radiology,Leiden University Medical Center,Leiden,the Netherlands.
authors: Johan H C
authors: JH
authors: Reiber
authors: National Center on Epidemiology,Surveillance and Health Promotion,Istituto Superiore di Sanità,Rome,Italy.
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Gandin
authors: National Center on Epidemiology,Surveillance and Health Promotion,Istituto Superiore di Sanità,Rome,Italy.
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Galluzzo
authors: National Center on Epidemiology,Surveillance and Health Promotion,Istituto Superiore di Sanità,Rome,Italy.
authors: Emanuele
authors: E
authors: Scafato
authors: Laboratory of Epidemiology Neuroimaging and Telemedicine,IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio,Fatebenefratelli,Brescia,Italy.
authors: Giovanni B
authors: GB
authors: Frisoni
authors: LKEB - Division of Image Processing,Department of Radiology,Leiden University Medical Center,Leiden,the Netherlands.
authors: Julien
authors: J
authors: Milles
authors: Laboratory of Epidemiology Neuroimaging and Telemedicine,IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio,Fatebenefratelli,Brescia,Italy.
authors: Michela
authors: M
authors: Pievani
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D001284:Atrophy; D015415:Biomarkers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009929:Organ Size
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers