Optimization of Susceptibility Weighted Imaging at 7T for Improved Detection of Alzheimer’s Amyloid Plaques Associated with Iron in Human Postmortem Brain

INTRODUCTION: Amyloid plaques are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Iron component in the immediate vicinity of amyloid plaques has been shown in animal studies of AD and acts as a source of reactive oxygen species for oxidative damage [1,2]. In addition, an interest of microstructural hippocampal imaging has emerged in recent years [3]. Any imaging technique capable of directly visualizing amyloid plaques and fine hippocampal structures is critical for early and accurate diagnosis of AD. This work is to evaluate imaging parameters on 7T MR using SWI without MRI contrast agent to better identify the histopathologic correlate of amyloid plaques containing iron and otherwise invisible subhippocampal structures of human post-mortem brain in patients with AD.