Role of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Dementia

Abstract Background Dementia is becoming a significant public health problem of the century due to increasing life expectancy and aging populations around the world. The most common pathology underlying dementia in older adults is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). vascular dementia and Lewy body disease pathologies are other common causes of dementia in the elderly and in many instances AD is also present in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and vascular dementia (VaD). A relatively less common type of dementia is frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which tends to affect younger individuals compared to other dementia pathologies. Aim of the Work Aim of the work is to identify the role of MRS in common dementia. Ethical considerations: Oral approval from the patients or responsible relatives were obtained after explaining the procedure to them, the study was conducted according to the stipulations of ASU ethical and scientific committee. Patients and Methods Our study included 36 patients diagnosed as dementia patients clinically, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. They were 22 females and 14 males; their ages ranged from 40-89 years with the mean age 68 years in addition to 13 healthy control cases in the same age group 7 females and 6 males, their ages ranged from 50 to 75 years. Results In our study, The most remarkable findings was reduction of cerebral volume in most of the patients in all types of dementia. NAA peak in dementia patients was reduced compared to the control groups with more reduction was noted in the Alzheimer’s group indicating demyelination with progressive neural and axonal damage. The Myoinositol increase is indicator for glial cell proliferation and gliosis. It’s peak was expected to be increased, however in our study it shows increased level in patients with advanced AD only, no significant change compared to the control group in other types of dementia or early diagnosed patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Conclusion Our study showed significant reduction of cerebral volume as well as some metabolic changes that proves that MRS is a non invasive imaging tool can be used to identify dementia after more researches to find disease specific changes.