RSNA 2004 

Abstract Archives of the RSNA, 2004


SSG13-07

White Matter Damage in Alzheimer's Disease: Assessment with Diffusion Tensor MRI Using Parallel Imaging Technique

Scientific Papers

Presented on November 30, 2004
Presented as part of SSG13: Neuroradiology/Head and Neck (Dementia and Memory Disorders)

Participants

Robert Stahl MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose
Olaf Dietrich, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose
Stefan Teipel MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose
Prachi Kala MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose
Stefan Oswald Schoenberg MD, PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose
Maximilian Reiser MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

PURPOSE

In Alzheimer disease (AD) a reduction in white matter macrostructure secondary to cortical degeneration is known. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of white matter tissue damage in patients with AD in comparison to healthy subjects using diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) with integrated parallel imaging technique (iPAT) for reduction of image distortion.

METHOD AND MATERIALS

We studied 18 patients with mild AD and 15 age and gender matched healthy controls. DTI brain scans were obtained on a 1.5 Tesla magnet (Siemens Magnetom Sonata) using parallel imaging (iPAT) and an EPI diffusion sequence. We used an 8-element head coil and a GRAPPA reconstruction algorithm. From the tensor, the mean diffusivity (ADC), the fractional anisotropy (FA) and the relative anisotropy (RA) of several white matter regions were determined.

RESULTS

The ADC values observed in the white matter of the genu of the corpus callosum, the pericallosal areas and the frontal lobes were significantly (p<0.05) higher in patients with AD than in the corresponding regions from healthy controls. The FA and RA tended (p<0.10) to be lower in these areas. Only slight but not significant changes of ADC or FA/RA between patients and controls for the other regions studied were observed. The images obtained with iPAT contained substantially less susceptibility artifacts and were less distorted than images acquired with non-parallel imaging technique.

CONCLUSIONS

The altered FA and ADC values in several white matter areas in patients presumably reflect the microscopic degeneration in AD. Therefore DTI is a method with potential to assess early stages of white matter damage in vivo. Additionally, iPAT methods reduce the acquisition time and yield images with less distortion due to susceptibility artifacts and thus allows for a more accurate calculation of the diffusion tensor.

DISCLOSURE

Cite This Abstract

Stahl, R, Dietrich, O, Teipel, S, Kala, P, Schoenberg, S, Reiser, M, White Matter Damage in Alzheimer's Disease: Assessment with Diffusion Tensor MRI Using Parallel Imaging Technique.  Radiological Society of North America 2004 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 28 - December 3, 2004 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2004/4414338.html