Does Alzheimer's disease affect hippocampal asymmetry? Evidence from a cross-sectional and longitudinal volumetric MRI study

• Published in: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders Vol. 19; no. 5-6; p. 338
• Main Authors: Barnes, Josephine, Scahill, Rachael I, Schott, Jonathan M, Frost, Chris, Rossor, Martin N, Fox, Nick C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01-01-2005
• Subjects: Aged; Alzheimer Disease - genetics; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Apolipoprotein E4; Apolipoproteins E - genetics; Atrophy; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Functional Laterality; Hippocampus - pathology; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged
• ISSN: 1420-8008
• DOI: 10.1159/000084560

To determine whether Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with preferential atrophy of either the left or right hippocampus.
We examined right-left asymmetry in hippocampal volume and atrophy rates in 32 subjects with probable AD and 50 age-matched controls. Hippocampi were measured on two serial volumetric MRI scans using a technique that minimizes laterality bias.
We found a non-significant trend for right > left (R > L) asymmetry in controls at both time points (R > L: 1.7%; CI: -0.3-3.7%; p = 0.1). AD subjects showed a similar non-significant trend for R > L asymmetry at baseline (R > L: 1.8%; CI: -1.9-5.5%; p = 0.32), but not at repeat (p = 0.739). Change in R/L ratio between visits in AD patients was significant (p = 0.02). The AD group had significantly higher variance in these ratios than the controls at baseline (p = 0.02), but not repeat (p = 0.06). AD patients had higher atrophy rates than controls (p < 0.001). Mean (CI) annualized atrophy rates for left and right hippocampi were 1.2% (0.5-1.8%) and 1.1% (0.5-1.8%) for the controls, and 4.6% (3.3-6.0%) and 6.3% (4.9-7.8%) for AD subjects. There was no significant asymmetry in atrophy rates in controls (p = 0.9), but borderline significantly higher atrophy rates in the right hippocampus of the AD group (p = 0.05) compared to the left. Presence of an APOEepsilon4 allele had no significant effect on the size, asymmetry or atrophy rates in AD (p > 0.20).
We report minor R > L asymmetry in hippocampal volumes in controls and present some evidence to suggest that there is a change in the natural R > L asymmetry during the progression of AD.