MRI parameters of Alzheimer’s disease in an Arab population of Wadi Ara, Israel

Abdalla Bowirrat¹, Irith I Reider-Groswasser², Marlene Oscar-Berman^1,3, Orna Aizenstein², Gad Levy², Amos D Korczyn⁴

¹Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Division of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, ME, USA; ²Section of Neuroradiology, Department of Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel;  ³Boston Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System and Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, ME, USA;  ⁴Department of Neurology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, and Sieratzki Chair of Neurology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel

Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings are reported from 15 individuals in an Arab–Israeli community who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The quantitative parameters that were used for MRI analyses included gradings (0–3) and linear measurements of different brain structures. Generalized tissue loss was assessed by combined measurements of the ventricles (ventricular score, VS) and sulcal grading and width (SG, SW, respectively). Loss of brain tissue in specific regions of interest, eg, temporal lobes, basal ganglia, and midbrain, was evaluated by precise measurements. We observed abnormal tissue characteristics, expressed as high intensity foci in white matter on T2W sequences, as well as tissue loss, both generalized and focal. Most notable were changes involving the head of the caudate nuclei, the midbrain, and to a lesser degree, medial temporal structures.

Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging, linear measures, brain structure, Alzheimer’s disease, Arab population, Wadi-Ara, Israel