알츠하이머병 환자에서 해마 위축과 정신병적 증상

Hippocampal Atrophy and Psychotic Symptoms in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Objectives This study examined the difference in the volume or thickness of the medial temporal lobe between Alzheimer’s disease patients with psychosis (AD+P) and those without psychosis (AD-P). Methods Overall, 31 AD+P patients and 29 AD-P patients were included from the Memory impairment clinics of Pusan National University Hospital in Korea. AD+P was diagnosed according to Jeste and Finkel’s proposed diagnostic criteria for psychosis of Alzheimer’s disease. AD-P included AD patients with no psychotic symptoms during a 5-year follow-up period. Medial temporal volume or thickness was measured by 3-tesla MRI and freesufer analysis. Analysis of variance was used to examine the difference in the volume or thickness of medial temporal lobe between AP+P and AD-P after controlling for age, gender, education years, Clinical Dementia Rating scale-Sum of Box, and total intracranial volume. Results The hippocampal volume in AD+P was smaller than that in AD-P. Conclusion These findings suggest that AD+P is associated with a reduced hippocampal volume.