Brain PET in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Charles Marcus; Esther Mena; Rathan M Subramaniam

doi:10.1097/RLU.0000000000000547

Brain PET in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Clin Nucl Med. 2014 Oct;39(10):e413-22; quiz e423-6. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000000547.

Authors

Charles Marcus¹, Esther Mena, Rathan M Subramaniam

Affiliation

¹ *Post Doctorate Research Fellow in the Russell H. Morgan, Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD; †Nuclear Medicine Resident in the Russell H. Morgan, Department ofRadiology and Radiological Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD; ‡Associate Professor in the Russell H. Morgan, Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Department of Oncology, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this article was to review the current role of brain PET in the diagnosis of Alzheimer dementia. The characteristic patterns of glucose metabolism on brain FDG-PET can help in differentiating Alzheimer's disease from other causes of dementia such as frontotemporal dementia and dementia of Lewy body. Amyloid brain PET may exclude significant amyloid deposition and thus Alzheimer's disease in appropriate clinical setting.

Conclusions: FDG-PET and amyloid PET imaging are valuable in the assessment of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Alzheimer Disease / diagnostic imaging*
Alzheimer Disease / etiology
Brain / diagnostic imaging*
Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnosis
Frontotemporal Dementia / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Lewy Body Disease / diagnostic imaging
Positron-Emission Tomography*
Radiopharmaceuticals

Substances

Radiopharmaceuticals

Grants and funding

P30 CA006973/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States