QUANTITATIVE MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IN GERIATRIC DEPRESSION AND PRIMARY DEGENERATIVE DEMENTIA

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to investigate volumes of different brain structures in 19 patients with late-onset m ajor depression (DSM-III-R), 27 patients with Alzheimer's disease (NIN CDS-ADRDA criteria) and 13 age matched controls, 3-D MRI sequences wer e acquired using a Siemens 1.5 T scanner, Whole brain volume, CSF volu me, volume of the frontal and temporal lobes and the volume of the amy gdala-hippocampus complex were assessed using the software NMRWin. Com pared to the controls, depressed patients showed a significantly lower whole brain volume and a significantly higher CSF volume, whereas vol umes of the frontal and temporal lobes as well as the amygdala-hippoca mpus complex volumes were not significantly decreased. In addition, de pressed patients exhibited a higher ventricle-brain ratio suggesting a higher degree of central atrophy compared to healthy individuals, In contrast, Alzheimer patients showed significantly lower volumes than d epressed patients and controls with respect to all volumetric paramete rs, Although the findings indicate the presence of brain atrophy in pa tients with late-onset depression, the pattern of volumetric changes i n these patients differs markedly from that observed in patients with primary degenerative dementia. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.