ABSTRACT
Objective To quantify iron deposition in Alzheimer’s disease (AD),amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and normal old people using susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI).Methods Sixty participants (22 aMCI,20 AD,18 normal con-trols)underwent conventional magnetic resonance imaging sequences and SWI using axial/oblique coronal sequences.Phase images were used to calculate bilateral iron deposition in 1 8 regions of interest (ROI)of every participant.The radian angle values were cal-culated and compared between the three groups.Results The radian angle value difference was significant between the aMCI and control groups in the left (L)-hippocampus,L-head of the caudate nucleus,R/L-lenticular nucleus ROIs.The radian angle value difference was significant between the AD and aMCI groups in the R/L-cerebellar hemisphere,R/L-hippocampus,R-red nucleus, R/L-thalamus and splenium of corpus callosum ROIs.Pearson correlation coefficients of the mini-mental state examination (MMSE)scores and many ROIs were significant.Conclusion Iron depositions in the hippocampus,head of the caudate nucleus,len-ticular nucleus and thalamus are significantly different between individuals with aMCI,AD and controls.Using SWI to quantify the iron deposition is a useful tool in detecting aMCI and AD.