Hippocampal and entorhinal cortex volume changes in Alzheimer's disease patients and mild cognitive impairment subjects

Abstract

Hippocampal and entorhinal cortex as scanned in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), are two of the most commonly used Regions of Interest (ROIs) for the assessment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Both structures are used for the classification between Normal Controls (NC), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and AD subjects and for the disease prognosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the volume of these two structures changes between the following groups: NC vs AD, NC vs MCI, MCI vs MCI converters (MCIc - subjects who had converted to AD within 48 months), and AD vs MCIc subjects. Both structures were significantly reduced in volume for MCIc and AD subjects compared to NC. For both MCI and MCIc groups, the atrophy rate was correlated for both structures. In AD subjects, entorhinal cortex was more affected by atrophy. In conclusion, structural MRI and volumetric measurements of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex can be used as early signs for the assessment of AD, and this is in agreement with previous studies.