Hippocampal atrophy correlates with severe cognitive impairment in elderly patients with suspected normal pressure hydrocephalus.
AUTOR(ES)
Golomb, J
RESUMO
Measurements of hippocampal formation atrophy using MRI have been useful in distinguishing demented patients with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease from cognitively normal controls. To determine whether there is a similar relationship between hippocampal size and dementia in elderly patients suspected of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), the authors obtained mini-mental status examination (MMSE) scores and MRI measurements of hippocampal size and CSF volume on 16 elderly patients whose severe ventriculomegaly and unexplained gait impairment made NPH a probable diagnosis. Hippocampal size correlated strongly with MMSE score (r = 0.75, p < 0.001); no significant MMSE correlation was found for ventricular CSF volume or extra-ventricular/ventricular CSF ratio. It was concluded that hippocampal atrophy is associated with severe cognitive dysfunction in many elderly patients with a diagnosis of NPH. As a hypothesis for further investigation, the detection of such atrophy may help identify cases where the presence of a pathology of Alzheimer's disease complicates the diagnosis of NPH.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1072921Documentos Relacionados
- Visual impairment in "los pressure" hydrocephalus.
- Simultaneous recording of cerebrospinal fluid pressure and middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity in patients with suspected symptomatic normal pressure hydrocephalus.
- Diabetes mellitus in normal pressure hydrocephalus.
- Regional cerebral blood flow in normal pressure hydrocephalus.
- Heterogeneous cerebral glucose metabolism in normal pressure hydrocephalus.