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MRI-based evaluation of brain volume changes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease over time
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A. Albweady   , B. Alkhalifah |
| Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia , a.albweady@qu.edu.sa |
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Abstract: (7 Views) |
Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may reveal quantifiable and structural changes to the brain as a result of Alzheimer's disease (AD), an irreversible neurodegenerative disease. Longitudinal evaluation of alterations in brain volumes presents essential information on disease development and evaluation of therapeutic response. Materials and Methods: The study was a prospective longitudinal cohort study that included 156 subjects (78 AD patients and 78 age-matched healthy controls). The baseline, 12 months, and 24 months high-resolution 3T MRI scan were taken. FreeSurfer software was used to perform automated volumetric analysis in order to measure total brain volume (TBV), hippocampal volume (HV), entorhinal cortex volume (ECV) and ventricular volume (VV). Results: AD participants showed a substantially higher rate of total brain volume loss (2.18 + 0.67/ vs. 0.52 + 0.24) and hippocampal atrophy (4.82 + 1.34/ vs. 0.89 + 0.41) each year than the controls. The AD patients experienced significant acceleration of enlargement of the ventricles (8.94 ± 2.87% vs. 2.14 ± 0.92%, p<0.001). The greatest discriminative ability between groups was observed with the entorhinal cortex volume (AUC = 0.94). There was great predictive value of baseline hippocampal volume with regard to the cognitive decline trajectory (r = -0.72, p<0.001). Conclusion: The volumetric MRI study demonstrates that in Alzheimer disease, there are accelerated and regional atrophy patterns of the brain. These results endorse the relevance of longitudinal structural MRI as a potent biomarker of disease progression and possible therapeutic effect of new clinical trials. |
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| Keywords: Alzheimer disease, magnetic resonance imaging, brain atrophy, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, ventricular enlargement. |
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Full-Text [PDF 842 kb]
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Type of Study: Original Research |
Subject:
Radiation Biology
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