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 assess which baseline clinical and MRI measures influence whole-brain atrophy rates, measured from serial MR imaging.
Methods: We recruited 65 patients with Alzheimer disease (mean ± SD age 70 ± 8 y, 58% women, Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] 22 ± 5), scanned with an average interval of 1.7 ± 0.6 years. Whole-brain atrophy rates were used as outcome measure. Baseline normalized brain volume, hippocampal volume, and whole-brain atrophy rates were measured using three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging. The influence of age, sex, apolipoprotein E genotype (APOE), baseline MMSE, baseline hippocampal volume, and baseline normalized brain volume on whole-brain atrophy rates was assessed using linear regression.
Results: The mean whole-brain atrophy rate was −1.9 ± 0.9% per year. In the multivariate model, younger age (β [SE] = 0.03 [0.01]; p = 0.04), absence of APOE ε4 (β [SE] = 0.61 [0.28]; p = 0.03), and a low MMSE (β [SE] = 0.11 [0.03]; p < 0.001) were associated with a higher whole-brain atrophy rate. Furthermore, a relatively spared hippocampus predicted faster decline for patients with a smaller baseline brain volume (p = 0.09), and with a lower MMSE (p = 0.07). Finally, a smaller brain volume was associated with a higher rate of atrophy in younger patients (p = 0.03).
Conclusions: Our results suggest it is possible to characterize a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) who are at risk of faster loss of brain volume. Patients with more generalized, rather than focal hippocampal atrophy, who often have an onset before the age of 65, and are APOE ε4 negative, seem to be at risk of faster whole-brain atrophy rates than the more commonly seen patients with AD, who are older, are APOE ε4 positive, and have pronounced hippocampal atrophy.
Glossary
- AD=
- Alzheimer disease;
- MMSE=
- Mini-Mental State Examination;
- NBV=
- normalized baseline brain volume;
- PBVC=
- percentage brain volume change.
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.
