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Abstract #4256

Assessment of White Matter Tract Damage in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimers Disease

Michela Pievani1,2, Federica Agosta1, Elisabetta Pagani1, Elisa Canu3, Stefania Sala1, Martina Absinta1, Cristina Geroldi3, Rossana Ganzola3, Giovanni B. Frisoni3, Massimo Filippi1

1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, Scientific Institute and University Hospital San Raffaele, Milan, Italy; 2IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio - Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy; 3IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio - FatebenefratelliIRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio - Fatebenefratel, Brescia, Italy


DT-MRI tractography was used to investigate MD, FA, axial (DA) and radial (DR) diffusivities changes in limbic and cortico-cortical (CCT) WM tracts in 25 patients with Alzheimers disease (AD), 19 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and 15 controls. AD showed increased MD in CCT and cingulum, and reduced FA in fornix. Both patient groups showed increased DA in CCT and DR in the fornix. In AD and aMCI, limbic tracts showed a greater increase in DR vs. DA. Hippocampal volumes correlated with fornix DA. This study suggests different pattern of WM involvement in the limbic and CCT in AD.

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