title: Longitudinal grey and white matter changes in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia are characterised by progressive brain atrophy. Longitudinal MRI volumetry may help to characterise ongoing structural degeneration and support the differential diagnosis of dementia subtypes. Automated, observer-independent atlas-based MRI volumetry was applied to analyse 102 MRI data sets from 15 bvFTD, 14 AD, and 10 healthy elderly control participants with consecutive scans over at least 12 months. Anatomically defined targets were chosen a priori as brain structures of interest. Groups were compared regarding volumes at clinic presentation and annual change rates. Baseline volumes, especially of grey matter compartments, were significantly reduced in bvFTD and AD patients. Grey matter volumes of the caudate and the gyrus rectus were significantly smaller in bvFTD than AD. The bvFTD group could be separated from AD on the basis of caudate volume with high accuracy (79% cases correct). Annual volume decline was markedly larger in bvFTD and AD than controls, predominantly in white matter of temporal structures. Decline in grey matter volume of the lateral orbitofrontal gyrus separated bvFTD from AD and controls. Automated longitudinal MRI volumetry discriminates bvFTD from AD. In particular, greater reduction of orbitofrontal grey matter and temporal white matter structures after 12 months is indicative of bvFTD.
authors.affiliation: Center of Geriatrics and Gerontology, University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany; Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frings
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yew
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flanagan
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Bonnie Y K
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Center of Geriatrics and Gerontology, University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hüll
authors.affiliation: Swiss Epilepsy Centre, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Huppertz
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hodges
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hornberger
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001315:Australia; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology