The Effect of Brain Atrophy on Cerebral Hypometabolism in the Visual Variant of Alzheimer Disease

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Abstract
ALZHEIMER disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that most often manifests itself initially through memory loss, followed by decreases in higher-order cognitive skills such as attention, language, and planning.1,2 Results from structural imaging studies, using both magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography, have shown increases in brain atrophy consistent with the clinical and neuropathologic findings.3-6 Results from functional imaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) have identified reductions in the regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRglc)7 and oxygen8 in patients with AD compared with healthy control subjects in temporal, parietal, and prefrontal cortex and in limbic structures.