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Findings from University of California provide new insights into dementia

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"To use volumetric MRI techniques to identify the patterns of WM atrophy in vivo in 2 clinical variants of frontotemporal lobar degeneration - frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and semantic dementia - and to compare the patterns of WM atrophy with those of gray matter ( GM) atrophy in these diseases. Structural MRIs were obtained from patients with FTD (n = 12) and semantic dementia (n = 13) and in cognitively healthy age-matched controls (n= 24). Regional GM and WM were classified automatically from high-resolution T1-, T2-, and proton density-weighted MRIs with Expectation-Maximization Segmentation and compared between the groups using a multivariate analysis of covariance model that included age and WM lesion volumes as covariates. Patients with FTD had frontal WM atrophy and frontal, parietal, and temporal GM atrophy compared with controls, who had none. Patients with semantic dementia had temporal WM and GM atrophy and patients with FTD had frontal GM atrophy. Adding temporal WM volume to temporal GM volume significantly improved the discrimination between semantic dementia and FTD," wrote L.L. Chao and colleagues, University of California.

The researchers concluded: "These results show that patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration who are in relatively early stages of the disease (Clinical Dementia Rating score, 1.0-1.2) have WM atrophy that largely parallels the pattern of GM atrophy typically associated with these disorders."

Chao and colleagues published their study in Archives of Neurology (Patterns of white matter atrophy in frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Archives of Neurology, 2007;64(11):1619-1624).

Additional information can be obtained by contacting L.L. Chao, University of California, Dept. of Vet. Affairs Med Center, Dept. of Radiol, 4150 Clement St. 114M, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA.

The publisher of the journal Archives of Neurology can be contacted at: American Medical Association, 515 N State St., Chicago, IL 60610-0946, USA.

Keywords: United States, San Francisco, Atrophy, Central Nervous System Disease, Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia, Magnetic Resonance, Neuroimaging, Neurology, Pathology, Urology, University of California.

This article was prepared by Pain & Central Nervous System Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2008, Pain & Central Nervous System Week via NewsRx.com.