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Magnetization transfer ratio in mild cognitive impairment and dementia of Alzheimer's type

Noor Jehan Kabani1, John G Sled, Howard Chertkow

  • 1Bloomfield Centre for Research in Aging, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E2, Canada.

Neuroimage
|February 19, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) detects early brain changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT). MTR offers a novel MRI measure for early diagnosis, even before volumetric changes are apparent.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging
  • Neurology
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) often progresses to dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT).
  • Brain structure volume decreases correlate with cognitive decline in MCI and DAT.
  • Volumetric changes are more pronounced in DAT than MCI, suggesting a need for earlier detection methods.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) as an early predictor of cognitive decline.
  • To assess MTR differences in gray and white matter between DAT, MCI, and control groups.
  • To determine if MTR changes can predict abnormal cognitive decline in the absence of volumetric changes.

Main Methods:

  • Acquired magnetic resonance (MR) images from 15 DAT, 15 MCI, and 15 elderly control subjects.
  • Utilized automatic tissue classification to segment MR images into gray and white matter.
  • Measured mean MTR within gray and white matter regions for each group.

Main Results:

  • Significantly lower gray matter MTR was observed in both MCI and DAT groups compared to controls.
  • White matter MTR was significantly lower only in the DAT group.
  • Gray matter volume was significantly reduced in the DAT group but not in the MCI group.

Conclusions:

  • MTR changes are detectable in MCI, even without significant volumetric alterations.
  • MTR serves as a sensitive MRI marker for early detection of neurodegenerative processes.
  • MTR may offer a novel approach for the early diagnosis of dementia of Alzheimer's type.

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