Quantification of tissue damage in AD using diffusion tensor and magnetization transfer MRI

The authors measured mean diffusivity ((D) over bar) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) of the brain from 18 patients with AD and 16 healthy control subjects. The peak heights of cortical gray matter (cGM) (D) over bar (p < 0.001) and MTR (p < 0.001) histograms were lower and average cGM (D) over bar (p < 0.01) higher in patients with AD than in control subjects. A composite MR score based on brain volume and cGM MTR peak height was correlated with patient cognitive impairment (r = 0.65, p = 0.003). This preliminary study presents a novel approach to quantify AD-related tissue damage in-vivo.