Mapping Histology to Metabolism: Coregistration of Stained Whole-Brain Sections to Premortem PET in Alzheimer's Disease

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 5; no. 2; pp. 147 - 153
• Main Authors: Mega, Michael S., Chen, Sylvia S., Thompson, Paul M., Woods, Roger P., Karaca, Timur J., Tiwari, Abhishek, Vinters, Harry V., Small, Gary W., Toga, Arthur W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.02.1997
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Brain - pathology; Brain - physiopathology; Brain Mapping; Energy Metabolism - physiology; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Male; Neurofibrillary Tangles - pathology; Neurofibrillary Tangles - physiology; Reproducibility of Results; Tomography, Emission-Computed
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1006/nimg.1996.0255

The association between [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG–PET) counts obtained 8 h before death and neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) staining density in a patient with Alzheimer's disease (AD) was evaluated. In our patient FDG–PET counts were globally decreased with a greater focal deficit in the left medial temporal region independent of volume loss. After death, whole-brain sections derived from cryomacrotome sectioning were stained for NFTs by the Gallyas method and elastically warped into their native space enabling registration with premortem FDG–PET data. Gallyas staining density was localized to the paralimbic cortex of the basal forebrain, medial temporal, and orbital frontal regions. The poor correlation between NFT staining density and hypometabolism on FDG–PET implicates alternate mechanisms underlying the metabolic defect in AD.