Research finds that brain imaging can improve diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

April 02-- Apr. 2--PROVIDENCE -- Constantine A. Gatsonis and Dr. Stephen P. Salloway, both of Brown University, are among the researchers involved in a new study that show a type of brain imaging improves diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease -- and can help clinicians improve treatment of patients with the fatal affliction.

More than 100 Rhode Island residents participated in the study.

Published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, research showed "that providing clinicians with the results of positron emission tomography (PET) scans that identify amyloid plaques in the brain changed medical management -- including the use of medications and counseling -- in nearly two-thirds of cases, more than double what researchers predicted in advance of the study," according to a release from the Alzheimer's Association.

"The technique, known as 'amyloid PET imaging,' also altered the diagnosis of the cause of cognitive impairment in more than one in three study participants," wrote the association, the nation's leading Alzheimer's scientific and advocacy group.

"Even in the absence of a cure for Alzheimer's, people with symptoms need advance warning and management that is appropriate for their specific condition," Gatsonis told The Journal. "This large, nationwide study showed how PET imaging for amyloid plaques can help address these important needs."

"The first part of the study," said Gatsonis, "showed how the scan results can lend confidence to the diagnosis of whether or not someone with symptoms has Alzheimer's. The study also showed that knowledge of the results can change clinical management in a large percentage of people with symptoms."

A Professor of Biostatistics at Brown, Gatsonis directs the statistics center of the study, known as IDEAS, for "Imaging Dementia -- Evidence for Amyloid Scanning."

Salloway was lead author of an earlier paper that was critical to FDA approval of flutemetamol, one of the tracers used in the latest study.

"We are excited that more than 130 Rhode Islanders played an important role in the landmark IDEAS study," Salloway told The Journal. "Amyloid PET is a powerful new tool in the fight against Alzheimer's."

Salloway, who heads Butler Hospital's Memory and Aging Program, renewed his call for Medicare to make amyloid PET imaging "available to those who need it." Medicare does not currently cover the cost, although study participants received the test without charge.

Maria C. Carrillo, Alzheimer's Association chief science officer and a co-author of Tuesday's JAMA study, added her voice to that call in a media release, saying, "It is important that amyloid PET imaging be more broadly accessible to those who need it."

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