Abstract #0687

Structural Differences Can Be Found Between MCI Converters & Non-Converters More Than 2 Years Prior to Conversion to AD

Gwenaelle Douaud¹, Ricarda Menke¹, Achim Gass², Andreas Monsch³, Marc Sollberger^2,3, Anil Rao⁴, Brandon Whitcher⁴, Paul Matthews⁴, Stephen Smith¹

¹FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; ²Departments of Neurology & Neuroradiology, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland; ³Memory Clinic, Department of Geriatrics, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland; ⁴GlaxoSmithKline,Clinical Imaging Centre, Hammersmith Hospital London

We investigated for the first time grey and white matter differences at baseline between stable amnestic MCI patients and those who later converted to AD. Importantly, we focused on late conversion, as patients converted at least two years after their scan. Using FSL-VBM and TBSS, we found significantly reduced GM mainly in the striatum and the left hippocampus and increased FA where the SLF crosses the CST in the MCI converters. Remarkably, these white matter microstructural alterations detected in crossing-fibre tracts using diffusion imaging proved more sensitive to predict conversion to AD.