Quantitative electroencephalographic changes and hippocampal atrophy in diabetic patients with mild cognitive impairment in Ismailia region

BACKGROUND: Cognitive decline could start or get worse among elderly patients with diabetes mellitus more than elderly without diabetes mellitus. So, those diabetic elderly patients have more risk to develop Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 48 elderly, grouped into three equal groups. First group included patients with diabetes mellitus and cognitive impairment. Second group included patients with diabetes mellitus and no cognitive impairment. The last group included the controls. Evaluation through Mini Mental State Examination, MRI brain, and Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) recording was done for every studied elderly. RESULTS: MRI finding revealed that hippocampal atrophy was significantly more prevalent among diabetic patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (37.5%). The QEEG showed increase in the distribution of alpha 1 (low alpha) waves among control and diabetic patients without MCI groups, while there was an increase in the distribution of alpha 2 (high alpha) among diabetic patients with MCI. The QEEG results revealed increased alpha 2/alpha 1 ratio among patients with hippocampal atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: Type 2 DM was suggested to increase the risk of cognitive impairment. The cognitive impairment in patients with diabetes mellitus was associated with changes in hippocampal volume and QEEG changes.