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Hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease: a 3-year follow-up MRI study
M P Laakso1, M Lehtovirta, K Partanen
1Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
Background:
Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), it has been proposed that serial imaging studies tracking the course of progression might improve the diagnostic accuracy of AD.
Methods:
Longitudinal changes in hippocampal volumes were evaluated using magnetic 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 loss in the AD group compared to control subjects was observed. During the study 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 within the accuracy range of the measurements. Therefore, serial MRI of the hippocampus did not offer any advantage over a single MRI to support the diagnosis of AD in this study sample.