Association of White Matter Hyperintensities with White Matter Changes in Alzheimer's Disease as Studied by DTI

Liya Wang¹, Felicia C. Goldstein², Hui Mao¹

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) provide an additive effect is considered to be a risk factor of Alzheimers disease (AD). We investigated which DTI indices: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (DR) and axial diffusivity (DX) values were more sensitive to differentiate AD from normal control and how different levels of WMH may contribute to AD in specific areas of the white matter. FA and DR were helpful to discriminate AD with different grade of WMH. Different level WMH contributed AD in different regions and extent. The increased DR may provide measurement of demyelination of AD in pathology.