Atrophy of cortex and the white matter of the brain in Alzheimer's disease on magnetic resonance imaging
Abstract
Neuronal loss as a feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be indirectly assessed on magnetic resonance (MR) according to the total or regional brain atrophy. Mediotemporal atrophy is typical for AD, but not specific.
To increase the diagnostic yield from a single MR examination, we focused on selected areas of cortex and the white matter. We measured the thickness, the width or the height of the following areas in both hemispheres in 20 patients with probable AN and 20 control elderly people: a) the grey matter - entorhinal cortex (EC), two frontal cortical areas (dorsal F1, ventral F2), temporal (T ) cortex and occipital cortex, b) the white matter - capsule interna (CI), corpus callosum.
Compared to control elderly patients, AD patients had significantly atrophied following areas: right and left EC, left F2 cortex, right T cortex, and all parts measured in the white matter, the most pronounced change being in the left internal capsule. A significant asymmetry in AD was observed for the EC and F2 cortices.
AD results in a diffuse brain atrophy, from which the greatest loss of brain tissue occurs in the EC bilaterally and the left CI. A degenerative process disproportionately affects the right and left hemisphere, especially in the EC and F2 cortices.