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P1‐310: FDG‐PET Scan Significantly Superior to Spect Scan in The Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease in a Naturalistic Memory Clinic Setting
Author(s) -
Zeimer Henry,
Moore Sarah,
Polgar Danielle
Publication year - 2016
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.2016.06.1060
Subject(s) - medicine , memory clinic , dementia , spect imaging , positron emission tomography , nuclear medicine , radiology , disease
Background:Functional brain imaging, with SPECT and FDG-PET scans, is recommended in the NICE guidelines to differentiate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from other dementias. However, the use of SPECT and FDG-PET scans in Memory Clinics varies from centre to centre due to issues with funding, resources and accessibility. SPECT is more widely available, but studies comparing the sensitivities and specificities of these two imaging modalities have shown that FDG-PET has a higher diagnostic accuracy than SPECT by up to 20%. The aim of this study is to examine the use of SPECT and FDG-PET in a real-life Memory Clinic setting, and to determine which of these two imaging modalities is more useful in diagnosing AD. Methods:A retrospective chart review of patients who attended the Memory Clinic at Austin Health and underwent investigation for possible dementia between May 2014 and May 2015 was performed. Austin Health is a tertiary referral centre and academic teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Results:Over the study period, 184 patients (mean age 73.9) were investigated for possible dementia. Fifty-nine patients (32%) were diagnosed with either AD or mixed Alzheimer’s/vascular dementia. Thirty out of these fifty-nine patients (51%) had a SPECT scan, but only eight out of the thirty scans (27%) showed regional hypoperfusion typically found in AD. All twenty-two patients with a negative SPECT scan had a positive FDG-PET scan with regional hypometabolism typically seen in AD. Conclusions:FDG-PET is significantly superior to SPECT in the diagnostic work-up for AD in a real-life Memory Clinic setting. FDG-PET should be the preferred functional imaging modality in Memory Clinics and may be more cost effective overall, but further research is required to verify this.