Background: Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), it h
as been proposed that serial imaging studies tracking the course of progres
sion might improve the diagnostic accuracy of AD.
Methods: Longitudinal changes in hippocampal volumes were evaluated using m
agnetic resonance imaging (MRI) over a period of 3 years in 27 AD patients
and 8 control subjects.
Results: A statistically nonsignificant trend towards accelerated volume lo
ss in the AD group compared to control subjects was observed During the stu
dy period, the average shrinkage of the hippocampal volume ranged from -2.2
% to -5.8% in control subjects, and from -2.3% to -15.6% in AD patients.
Conclusions: The observed changes at an individual level were small, and wi
thin the accuracy range of the measurements. Therefore, serial MRI of the h
ippocampus did not offer any advantage over a single MRI to support the dia
gnosis of AD in this study sample. (C) 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatr
y.