title: Hippocampal volume and hippocampal angle (a more practical marker) in mild cognitive impairment: A case-control magnetic resonance imaging study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) accompanies brain atrophy in neuroimaging investigations. The aim of this study was to compare MCI patients with the normal population for hippocampal volume (HV) and hippocampal angle (HA), and to assess the correlation between HV and HA.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a case-control study on 2014, in Kashani Hospital (Isfahan, Iran), 20 MCI patients were compared with 20 normal controls for HV and HA. Subjects were diagnosed with MCI or normal control, based on neuropsychiatry interview, which was confirmed by neuropsychiatry unit cognitive assessment tool (NUCOG). All magnetic resonance imaging scans were processed using the Free-Surfer software package for HV assessment. The HA was measured on the most rostral slice in which the uncal sulcus could be identified on a coronal plane. The data were analyzed using multiple analysis of co-variance and Pearson correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (standard deviation [SD]) score of NUCOG in control and case group were 91.05 (3.01) and 82.42 (3.57), respectively. Comparison of HV and HA scores in two groups, showed that mean (SD) HV and HA were not different between control and case groups, significantly, (P = 0.094 and P = 0.394, respectively). There was a negative correlation between the adjusted HV and the HA in case (r = -0.642, P = 0.004), and control groups (r = -0.654, P = 0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HV and HA were not different between MCI patients and normal controls; however, HA is correlated with HV negatively and may be used as an alternative factor because of more feasibility and availability in clinical settings in compared to HV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Basiratnia
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sharbafchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maracy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barekatain
keywords: Alzheimer disease; hippocampus; magnetic resonance imaging; mild cognitive impairment