Background: Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), it has been proposed that serial imaging studies tracking the course of progression might improve the diagnostic accuracy of AD.
Methods: Longitudinal changes in hippocampal volumes were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) over a period of 3 years in 27 AD patients and 8 control subjects.
Results: A statistically nonsignificant trend towards accelerated volume loss in the AD group compared to control subjects was observed. During the study period, the average shrinkage of the hippocampal volume ranged from -2.2% to -5.8% in control subjects, and from -2.3% to -15.6% in AD patients.
Conclusions: The observed changes at an individual level were small, and within the accuracy range of the measurements. Therefore, serial MRI of the hippocampus did not offer any advantage over a single MRI to support the diagnosis of AD in this study sample.