This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective: To compare the volume of the putamen on MRI in subjects with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and age-matched normal control subjects, along with the relationship between putamen volume and severity of both extrapyramidal signs and cognitive impairment.
Methods: MRI-based volumetric measurements at 1.5 T of total intracranial volume, total brain volume, and putamen volume were acquired in elderly patients with AD (n = 27; 77.6 years) and DLB (n = 14; 76.2 years) and normal control subjects (n = 37; 75.4 years). Patients and control subjects also underwent a standardized neuropsychiatric examination including the motor subsection of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III) and the Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG) with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
Results: Patients with DLB had smaller raw putamen volumes than control subjects (right 12.5% reduction, p = 0.007; left 13.7% reduction, p = 0.003). When putamen volume was normalized to total intracranial volume, patients with DLB had significantly smaller volume ratios than both controls and patients with AD. Patients with AD did not differ from control subjects on any measure of putamen volume. Putamen volume did not correlate with age or with scores on UPDRS III, CAMCOG, or MMSE in any of the groups.
Conclusions: Atrophy of the putamen is a feature of DLB. This may be important in understanding the etiology of parkinsonian features seen in DLB, though in this study, no direct correlation was found between degree of volume loss and severity of parkinsonism.
- Received August 16, 2002.
- Accepted July 22, 2003.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
