A Study of Depression in Old Age Using Single-Photon Emission Computerised Tomography

Abstract

There is evidence to suggest that organic cerebral changes occur in elderly depressed patients. Quantitative studies of elderly depressed patients have demonstrated that they have reduced ‘radio-attenuation’ on computerised tomography (CT) scans and as a group resembled more closely a group of demented patients than normal controls (Jacoby et al, 1983). Many biochemical changes associated with ageing are similar to the pathophysiological abnormalities in depression and in dementia (Alexopoulos et al, 1988). These changes, coupled with the high frequency of depressive syndromes in demented patients, suggest a complex relationship between depression and dementia in old age. Mahendra (1985) has suggested that a variety of brain abnormalities can produce a spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from depression with minimal cognitive dysfunction at one end to dementia with minimal depression at the other.

Late-onset minor and major depression: early evidence for common neuroanatomical substrates detected by using MRI

“…The neuroanatomical and physiological correlates of major depression in late-life have been relatively well characterized (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41). Widespread reductions in glucose use and cerebral blood flow have been demonstrated in late-life MDD by using positron emission tomography (PET), Xenon 133 inhalation, and single photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT) (29,30,(39)(40)(41).…”

“…Widespread reductions in glucose use and cerebral blood flow have been demonstrated in late-life MDD by using positron emission tomography (PET), Xenon 133 inhalation, and single photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT) (29,30,(39)(40)(41). Glucose hypometabolism in MDD occurs in neocortical and subcortical regions (29).…”

Correlation between ^99mTc - HMPAO Brain Uptake and Severity of Dementia in Alzheimer's Disease: Assessment Using an Automatized Technique

“…This correlation appears to be nonlinear; very weak in the mild stage of the dementia, and strong in severe cognitive defi cit. This tendency was confirmed by the separate analysis of correlation in the severe (MMSE between 0 and 15) 18 Robert/Migneco/Darcourt/Ricq/Aubin/ Bonhomme/Pringuey/Lapalus/Darcourt 99mTc-HMPAO Brain Uptake and Severity of Dementia The method of analysis we used differs from other studies [13][14][15][16][17], since the analysis uses anatomical stereo taxic data, allowing for localization of the precise anatom ical lobes (frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital) and to determine a functional temporoparietal region. In the majority of previous studies, ROIs were manually drawn making reference to a standard anatomical atlas [16,32,37], and used small areas: 16 pixels (4 X 4) [ 14], 81 pixels (9 X 9) [16], 9 pixels (3 X 3) [33].…”

“…99mTc-HMPAO (hexamethylpropylene amineoxyme) is the most recent brain perfusion tracer used in SPECT studies [10,11]. Geaney and Abou-Saleh [12] reviewed a large number of 99mTc-HMPAO AD studies in which a temporal and pari etal reduction of rCBF was found [13][14][15][16][17].…”

Cerebral Changes in Old Age Depression: A Case Report With Findings on Single Photon Emission Tomography

“…She was administered approximately 550 MBq of 99Tc"HMPAO and was positioned beneath a large field-of-view gamma camera (Siemens ZLC Orbiter: 75 tube). The acquisition of tracer uptake data and its reconstruction, attenuation correction and normalization details are described elsewhere (Upadhyaya et al, 1990).…”