Rj. Killiany et al., TEMPORAL-LOBE REGIONS ON MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IDENTIFY PATIENTSWITH EARLY ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE, Archives of neurology, 50(9), 1993, pp. 949-954
Objective.-The goal of the study was to examine the volume of selected
brain regions in a group of mildly impaired patients with Alzheimer's
disease (AD). Five regions were selected for analysis, all of which h
ave been reported to show substantial change in the majority of patien
ts with AD at some time in the course of disease. Design.-Case-control
study with the experimenter ''blinded.'' Setting.-Hospital-based magn
etic resonance imaging center. Participants.-Fifteen subjects, eight p
atients with the diagnosis of probable dementia of the Alzheimer type
made in concordance with National Institute of Neurological and Commun
icative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders
Association criteria and seven age-matched healthy control subjects. R
esults.-Three of the volumetric measures were significantly different
between patients with AD and controls: the hippocampus, the temporal h
orn of the lateral ventricles, and the temporal lobe. Two of the measu
res did not significantly differentiate patients with AD and controls:
the amygdala and the basal forebrain. A discriminant function analysi
s demonstrated that a linear combination of the volumes of the hippoca
mpus and the temporal horn of the lateral ventricles differentiated 10
0% of the patients and controls from one another. Conclusions.-The res
ults suggest that the hippocampus and the temporal horn of the lateral
ventricles may be useful as antemortem markers of AD in mildly impair
ed patients.