Discrimination of Alzheimer’s disease from cognitively healthy individuals: an arterial spin labeling MRI study

Introduction. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia. Clinical neuroimaging such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is becoming increasingly important in the diagnostic workup of patients with suspected or definite dementia. Structural imaging is crucial in terms of excluding possible treatable causes of dementia but can also demonstrate of specific pathology patterns and is helpful monitoring disease progression [1]. Beyond structural MRI, it has been shown that advanced imaging techniques such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET) and blood perfusion MRI by arterial spin labelling (ASL) have added value in detection certain perfusion and metabolic pattern that can support the diagnosis of certain neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia [2]. The aim of our study was to investigate whether ASL MRI show certain perfusion pattern in patients with AD which might be help to discriminate those patients from cognitively healthy subjects.