White matter hyperintensities are significantly associated with cortical atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease

• Published in: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2004-06, Vol.75 (6), p.822-827
• Main Authors: Capizzano, A A, Ación, L, Bekinschtein, T, Furman, M, Gomila, H, Martínez, A, Mizrahi, R, Starkstein, S E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Alzheimer's disease; Alzheimeŕs disease; Ambulatory Care; Atrophy; Biological and medical sciences; BNT; Boston Naming Test; Brain - pathology; Brain research; CDR; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; cerebrospinal fluid; Clinical Dementia Rating; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - pathology; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Controlled Oral Word Association Test; COWAT; CSF; Dementia; Discriminant analysis; Female; grey matter; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - statistics & numerical data; Male; Medical imaging; Medical sciences; Mini Mental State Examination; MMSE; MRI; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuropsychology; Parkinson's disease; TIV; total intracranial volume; Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale; UPDRS; white matter; white matter hyperintensities; white matter signal hyperintensities; WMH
• ISSN: 0022-3050; 1468-330X
• DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.019273

Background and objective: Methodological variability in the assessment of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in dementia may explain inconsistent reports of its prevalence and impact on cognition. We used a method of brain MRI segmentation for quantifying both tissue and WMH volumes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and examined the association between WMH and structural and cognitive variables. Methods: A consecutive series of 81 patients meeting NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for probable AD was studied. Nineteen healthy volunteers of comparable age served as the control group. Patients had a complete neurological and neuropsychological evaluation, and a three dimensional MRI was obtained. Images were segmented into grey matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid. WMH were edited on segmented images, and lobar assignments were based on Talairach coordinates. Results: Mild and moderate to severe AD patients had significantly more WMH than controls (p