Silvio Ramos Bernardes da Silva Filho|Jeam Haroldo Oliveira Barbosa|Carlo Rondinoni|António Carlos dos Santos|Carlos Ernesto Garrido Salmon|Nereida Kilza da Costa Lima|Eduardo Ferriolli|Júlio C. Moriguti
Neuro-degeneration profile of Alzheimer's patients: A brain morphometry study
Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de Ribeirão Preto|Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de Ribeirão Preto|Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de São Paulo|Universidade de São Paulo
alzheimers disease ad primary progressive neurodegenerative disorder marked cognitive deterioration memory impairment atrophy hippocampus basal brain regions one predominant structural imaging findings related ad studies evaluated preclinical initial stages ad clinical trials using magnetic resonance imaging structural biomarkers advanced ad stages evaluated yet considered hypothetically evaluate brain morphometry ad patients disease stages identifying structural neurodegeneration profile associated ad severity ad patients aged 60 years different ad stages recruited grouped three groups following clinical dementia rating cdr score cdr1 n 16 cdr2 n 15 cdr3 n 13 age paired healthy volunteers n 16 also recruited control group brain images acquired 3t magnetic resonance scanner using conventional gradient eco 3d t1w sequence without contrast injection volumetric quantitative data cortical thickness obtained automatic segmentation using freesurfer software volume brain region normalized whole brain volume order minimize age body size effects volume cortical thickness variations among groups compared atrophy observed hippocampus amygdala entorhinal cortex parahippocampal region temporal pole temporal lobe patients suffering ad stage cortical thickness reduced parahippocampal gyrus disease stages volume cortical thickness correlated mini mental state examination mmse score studied regions well cdr disease duration previously reported brain regions affected ad initial stages hippocampus amygdala entorhinal cortex parahippocampal region found altered even individuals severe ad addition individuals specifically cdr 3 multiple regions lower volumes individuals cdr 2 results indicate rates atrophy plateaued cdr 23 severe patients yet neuronal loss gliosis findings add important information accepted model literature focuses mainly early stages findings allow better understanding ad pathophysiologic process followup process drug treatment even advanced disease stages