Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a degenerative dementing disorder which is char acterised by a progressive atrophy of several brain regions. This process m ay be visualised in vivo by the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with appropriate volumetric post-processing techniques. Recent volumetric MRI studies in AD consistently found an extensive volume loss of the medial temporal lobe structures including amygdala and hippocampus whi ch appeared already in the early clinical stages of the;disorder. This find ing is progressive during the clinical course of AD and is associated with other biological markers of the disease such as cerebrospinal fluid betaA 4 levels and apolipoprotein E genotype. With respect to the extent and the d istribution of the structural changes, AD may be differentiated from other neuropsychiatric disorders which could facilitate the differential diagnosi s in vivo.