Radiology of Alzeimer's Dementia

ü  The disease is named after Aloïs Alzheimer, who first described senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in a 51-year-old woman in 1906.

ü  Coronal MRI images perpendicular to the long axis of the temporal horn should be used to determine the amount of hippocampal and medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA).

ü  The process usually starts in the medial temporal lobe (entorhinal cortex and hippocampus) or the posterior cingulate, and then spreads to the tempoparietal cortex.

ü  In younger subjects with AD, the hippocampus may be spared, with pathology dominating in the precuneus (including posterior cingulate) and parietal cortex