Regional quantification of white matter hyperintensity in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease

Background/Aims: A quantitative method was applied to measure the volume of white matter hyperintensity (WMH) in different brain regions of subjects with Alzheimer's disease ( AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normal healthy age-matched controls, and the relationship between regional WMH and age and cognitive function was investigated. Methods: Fifty-six subjects were included in this study, 27 AD, 15 MCI and 14 normal age-matched controls. A user-friendly software was developed for WMH quantification in frontal, temporal, and parieto-occipital lobes. Mini-Mental State Examination and cognitive scores in performing naming, language fluency, and memory tasks were obtained for correlation analysis. Results: AD patients had the greatest total WMH volume, followed by MCI, then controls. However, there was a large variation within each group, and the difference did not reach a significant level. There was a positive linear correlation between the total WMH ( p = 0.031) and the frontal WMH ( p = 0.006) vs. age. After age correction the Boston Naming Test scores were negatively correlated with the total WMH volume in the AD ( p = 0.03) and the control ( p = 0.03) groups, and with the frontal WMH in controls ( p = 0.01). Conclusion: We demonstrated a quantitative analysis method to measure regional WMH. Although WMH was not strongly associated with disease severity or cognition, it may provide a characteristic neuroimaging parameter in the study of AD development. Copyright (C) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.