Conversion From Mild Cognitive Impairment to Probable Alzheimer’s Disease Predicted by Brain Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

OBJECTIVE: Mild cognitive impairment has been regarded as a pre-Alzheimer condition, but some patients do not develop dementia. Given the available therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, early diagnosis is of paramount importance. The authors’ objective was to determine whether findings from magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the hippocampus and other cortical areas would predict conversion from amnestic mild cognitive impairment to probable Alzheimer’s disease. METHOD: A longitudinal inception cohort of 53 consecutive and incident subjects fulfilling the criteria of amnestic mild cognitive impairment was followed for a mean period of 3 years. At baseline, a neuropsychological examination (Mini-Mental State Examination, Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, Clinical Dementia Rating, verbal fluency test, and memory tests) and standard blood tests were performed, and three cortical areas were examined by proton MRS: left hippocampus, right parietal cortex, and left occipital cortex. The patients were evaluated p...