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[ 18 F]flutemetamol amyloid positron emission tomography in preclinical and symptomatic Alzheimer's disease: Specific detection of advanced phases of amyloid‐β pathology
Author(s) -
Thal Dietmar Rudolf,
Beach Thomas G.,
Zanette Michelle,
Heurling Kerstin,
Chakrabarty Aruna,
Ismail Azzam,
Smith Adrian P.L.,
Buckley Christopher
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.05.018
Subject(s) - positron emission tomography , pathology , dementia , amyloid (mycology) , medicine , autopsy , alzheimer's disease , disease , nuclear medicine
Background Amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) has become an important tool to identify amyloid‐β (Aβ) pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Here, we determined the diagnostic value of the amyloid PET tracer [ 18 F]flutemetamol in relation to Aβ pathology at autopsy. Methods [ 18 F]flutemetamol PET was carried out in a cohort of 68 patients included in a [ 18 F]flutemetamol amyloid PET imaging end‐of‐life study (GE067‐007). At autopsy, AD pathology was determined and Aβ plaque pathology was classified into phases of its regional distribution (0–5). Results [ 18 F]flutemetamol PET was universally positive in cases with advanced stage postmortem Aβ pathology (Aβ phases 4 and 5). Negative amyloid PET was universally observed in nondemented or non‐AD dementia cases with initial Aβ phases 1 and 2, whereas 33.3% of the phase 3 cases were positive. Conclusions [ 18 F]flutemetamol amyloid PET detects primarily advanced stages of Aβ pathology in preclinical and symptomatic AD cases.