Characterization of the patients with Alzheimer disease using SWI detection of micro-bleedings and tissue changes in basal ganglia
Abstract
Recently, the new technique of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) has become suitable tool to detect micro-bleeding (MB) and also to follow MR signal changes in basal ganglia (BG). These signal changes are supposed to be closely connected to iron deposition increase but they also could be caused by calcification or older hemorrhage.
In this study, SWI was used to detect MB and to measure signal in nukleus caudatus (NC), putamen (PUT) and globus palidus in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Material and methods: We examined 47 subjects: 19 AD patients, 16 MCI patients and 12 healthy age matched volunteers.
All examinations were done on Siemens Trio 3T MR system using SWI sequence with following parameters: TR = 33 ms, TE = 20 ms, flip angle = 15o, voxel size of 0,6 x 0,6 x 0,8 mm, measurement time 5:20 min. Relative signal in NC, PUT and GP was evaluated and number of MB in entire brain volume was calculated.
Signal changes in BG were correlated with MMSE