Correlation between iron deposition and Alzheimer's disease In vivo preliminary quantitative study with susceptibility-weighted imaging

摘要

BACKGROUND:Studies have demonstrated iron deposition in Alzheimer's disease(AD) patients.Therefore,quantitative measurements and tracing of iron deposition are important for early detection and treatment.OBJECTIVE:To quantitatively measure iron deposition in the brain and evaluate the relationship between iron deposition and AD using magnetic susceptibility-weighted imaging.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:A case-control study was performed at the Department of Radiology,Huashan Hospital of Fudan University from February to July 2008.PARTICIPANTS:A total of 20 AD patients,comprising 11 males and 9 females,with a mean age of 72.5 years(range,51-80 years),and 20 healthy volunteers,comprising 10 males and 10 females,with a mean age of 69.9 years(range,55-78 years),were selected.AD was diagnosed according to the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria.METHODS:Sagittal T2-weighted images were acquired to locate precise positions of the anterior and posterior commissures.The susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance images were parallel to the anterior-posterior commissural line through the use of a three-dimensional gradient-echo sequence.All participants underwent measurement of corrected phase(CP) value and Mini-Mental State Examination.Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the association between CP values and Mini-Mental State Examination results.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:CP values of regions of interest in the hippocampal regions were measured on CP images.RESULTS:CP values were significantly reduced in bilateral hippocampal regions of AD patients compared with normal controls(P0.05).The hippocampal mean CP value positively correlated with the Mini-Mental State Examination score in AD patients and normal controls(r=0.57,P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Susceptibility-weighted imaging can be used to measure CP values to determine iron deposition in the brains of AD patients and could serve as a useful diagnostic tool for AD.