TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of iron deposition in the brain in frontotemporal dementia and its correlation with behavioral traits
AU - Sheelakumari, R.
AU - Kesavadas, C.
AU - Varghese, T.
AU - Sreedharan, R. M.
AU - Thomas, B.
AU - Verghese, J.
AU - Mathuranath, P. S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Disclosures: R. Sheelakumari—RELATED: Grant: National Institute on Aging*. Tinu Varghese—RELATED: Grant: National Institute on Aging.* Bejoy Thomas— UNRELATED: Grants/Grants Pending: GE Healthcare, Comments: Coinvestigator in an unrelated project*; Patents (Planned, Pending or Issued): Indian patent application filed.* Joe Verghese—RELATED: Grant: National Institutes of Health, Comments: Kerala-Einstein Study: Healthy Lifestyle, Vascular Disease, and Cognitive Decline; type, R01 AG039330-01; role, Principal Investigator; agency, National Institute on Aging, Fogarty Institute*. Pavagadha Mathuranath—RELATED: Grant: National Institute on Aging, Comments: grant Nos. R21AG029799 and R01AG039330-01 to P.S.M.* *Money paid to the institution.
Funding Information:
Received January 27, 2017; accepted after revision June 5. From the Cognition and Behavioural Neurology Section, Department of Neurology (R.S., T.V., P.S.M.) and Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology (C.K., B.T.), Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India; Department of Radiodiagnostics (R.M.S.), Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala, India; Integrated Divisions of Cognitive and Motor Aging (Neurology) and Geriatrics (Medicine) (J.V.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; and Department of Neurology (P.S.M.), National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Banglore, Karnataka, India. This study was supported by grants from National Institute on Aging (grant No. R21AG029799 and R01AG039330-01) to P.S.M.
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain iron deposition has been implicated as a major culprit in the pathophysiology of neurodegeneration. However, the quantitative assessment of iron in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and primary progressive aphasia brains has not been performed, to our knowledge. The aim of our study was to investigate the characteristic iron levels in the frontotemporal dementia subtypes using susceptibility-weighted imaging and report its association with behavioral profiles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 46 patients with frontotemporal dementia (34 with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and 12 with primary progressive aphasia) and 34 age-matched healthy controls. We performed behavioral and neuropsychological assessment in all the subjects. The quantitative iron load was determined on SWI in the superior frontal gyrus and temporal pole, precentral gyrus, basal ganglia, anterior cingulate, frontal white matter, head and body of the hippocampus, red nucleus, substantia nigra, insula, and dentate nucleus. A linear regression analysis was performed to correlate iron content and behavioral scores in patients. RESULTS: The iron content of the bilateral superior frontal and temporal gyri, anterior cingulate, putamen, right hemispheric precentral gyrus, insula, hippocampus, and red nucleus was higher in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia than in controls. Patients with primary progressive aphasia had increased iron levels in the left superior temporal gyrus. In addition, right superior frontal gyrus iron deposition discriminated behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia from primary progressive aphasia. A strong positive association was found between apathy and iron content in the superior frontal gyrus and disinhibition and iron content in the putamen. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative assessment of iron deposition with SWI may serve as a new biomarker in the diagnostic work-up of frontotemporal dementia and help distinguish frontotemporal dementia subtypes.
AB - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain iron deposition has been implicated as a major culprit in the pathophysiology of neurodegeneration. However, the quantitative assessment of iron in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and primary progressive aphasia brains has not been performed, to our knowledge. The aim of our study was to investigate the characteristic iron levels in the frontotemporal dementia subtypes using susceptibility-weighted imaging and report its association with behavioral profiles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 46 patients with frontotemporal dementia (34 with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and 12 with primary progressive aphasia) and 34 age-matched healthy controls. We performed behavioral and neuropsychological assessment in all the subjects. The quantitative iron load was determined on SWI in the superior frontal gyrus and temporal pole, precentral gyrus, basal ganglia, anterior cingulate, frontal white matter, head and body of the hippocampus, red nucleus, substantia nigra, insula, and dentate nucleus. A linear regression analysis was performed to correlate iron content and behavioral scores in patients. RESULTS: The iron content of the bilateral superior frontal and temporal gyri, anterior cingulate, putamen, right hemispheric precentral gyrus, insula, hippocampus, and red nucleus was higher in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia than in controls. Patients with primary progressive aphasia had increased iron levels in the left superior temporal gyrus. In addition, right superior frontal gyrus iron deposition discriminated behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia from primary progressive aphasia. A strong positive association was found between apathy and iron content in the superior frontal gyrus and disinhibition and iron content in the putamen. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative assessment of iron deposition with SWI may serve as a new biomarker in the diagnostic work-up of frontotemporal dementia and help distinguish frontotemporal dementia subtypes.
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U2 - 10.3174/ajnr.A5339
DO - 10.3174/ajnr.A5339
M3 - Article
C2 - 28838910
AN - SCOPUS:85031714371
SN - 0195-6108
VL - 38
SP - 1953
EP - 1958
JO - American Journal of Neuroradiology
JF - American Journal of Neuroradiology
IS - 10
ER -