Abstract #0586

Susceptibility Mapping of Alzheimer Plaques at 7T

Michael Zeineh¹, Hagen Kitzler², Scott Atlas¹, Hannes Vogel³, Brian Rutt¹

¹Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; ²Neuroradiology, 2Department of Neuroradiology, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Germany; ³Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Iron-containing beta-amyloid plaques may play a key role in the development of Alzheimers disease (AD). To attempt to visualize the iron component of plaques, we performed high-resolution GRE imaging at 7.0T of AD specimens, and derived susceptibility maps from the phase images. Bright foci on the susceptibility maps corresponded closely with dark foci on the GRE images, suggesting plaques demonstrated positive magnetic susceptibility, possibly due to microscopic iron.