Laura Willemijn de Jong1, Luca Ferrarini2, Jeroen van der Grond, Julien Milles, E.L.E.M Bollen3, Rudy Westendorp4, H Middelkoop5, J. Reiber, Mark van Buchem
1Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Holland, Netherlands; 2Radiology, Division of Image Processing, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden; 3Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center; 4Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center; 5Neuropsychology, Leiden University Medical Center
The aim of this study was to compare the shape of the large deep grey matter structures (i.e. the caudate nucleus, putamen, pallidum and thalamus) of patients with Alzheimers disease to controls without cognitive deficits. For this purpose, 3T MR scans of 35 AD patients and 35 matched controls were automatically segmented using FIRST (FSL); their volumes were compared, and a shape analysis technique was used to highlight local shape changes between the groups and estimate their significance. This study revealed significant regional atrophic changes in the medial caudate nucleus, antero-medial thalamus and ventral putamen in patients with AD.