Apolipoprotein E-dependent load of white matter hyperintensities in Alzheimer's disease: a voxel-based lesion mapping study.

Introduction: White matter (WM) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hyperintensities are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but their pathophysiological relevance and relationship to genetic factors are unclear. In the present study, we investigated potential apolipoprotein E (APOE)-dependent effects on the extent and cognitive impact of WM hyperintensities in patients with AD.

Methods: WM hyperintensity volume on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of 201 patients with AD (128 carriers and 73 non-carriers of the APOE ε4 risk allele) was determined globally as well as regionally with voxel-based lesion mapping.

Genetic interaction of PICALM and APOE is associated with brain atrophy and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Evidence has emerged indicating that the ε4 allele of APOE and PICALM interact in conferring risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The biologic basis of this interaction is unclear, but it is likely to have phenotypic relevance and contribute to the structural and clinical heterogeneity of AD.

Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate interaction effects of the APOE ε4 allele and the alleles at the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs3851179 located in the PICALM locus.

APOE-dependent phenotypes in subjects with mild cognitive impairment converting to Alzheimer's disease.

Background: The E4 isoform of the APOE genotype is the most significant genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) and has recently been found to modulate disease expression in patients with AD.

Objective: To investigate APOE-dependent cognitive and structural phenotypes in subjects with mild cognitive impairment who converted to AD within the following three years.

Methods: Subjects converting to AD (n = 63) were compared to a control group with stable mild cognitive impairment (n = 131).

The IT-infrastructure of a biobank for an academic medical center.

For high quality research in biomedicine an operable biobank is essential. In order to make optimal use of the material and the huge amount of data a sustainable IT-infrastructure is indispensable. Therefore, we developed a concept for the IT-infrastructure of a biobank for an academic medical center.

Multicentre variability of MRI-based medial temporal lobe volumetry in Alzheimer's disease.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based volumetry of medial temporal lobe regions is among the best established biomarker candidates of Alzheimer's disease (AD) to date. This study assessed the effect of multicentre variability of MRI-based hippocampus and amygdala volumetry on the discrimination between patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and on the association of morphological changes with ApoE4 genotype and cognition. We studied 113 patients with clinically probable AD and 150 patients with amnestic MCI using high-resolution MRI scans obtained at 12 clinical sites.

The integration of grid resources into a portal for research collaboratories.

Information technology (IT) infrastructures for research collaboratories and virtual research businesses are essential elements of science in medicine. The sustainability of the infrastructure depends on how it becomes a normal element of the scientific process, including its financing as part of a scientist's workbench that can be easily configured to their needs. The results should also be distributed through a suitable platform to other research networks.

Finite-element-method (FEM) model generation of time-resolved 3D echocardiographic geometry data for mitral-valve volumetry.

Introduction: Mitral Valve (MV) 3D structural data can be easily obtained using standard transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) devices but quantitative pre- and intraoperative volume analysis of the MV is presently not feasible in the cardiac operation room (OR). Finite element method (FEM) modelling is necessary to carry out precise and individual volume analysis and in the future will form the basis for simulation of cardiac interventions.

Method: With the present retrospective pilot study we describe a method to transfer MV geometric data to 3D Slicer 2 software, an open-source medical visualization and analysis software package.