Early detection of Alzheimer's disease using neuroimaging.
Neuroimaging is being increasingly used to complement clinical assessments in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and metabolic positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) are the most clinically used and promising modalities to detect brain abnormalities in individuals who might be at risk for AD but who have not yet developed symptoms. The knowledge of established risk factors for AD enabled investigators to develop enrichment strategies for longitudinal imaging studies to reduce the sample sizes and study duration. The present review focuses on the results obtained by MRI and FDG-PET studies that examined the preclinical AD stages in several at risk populations: (1) individuals from families with autosomal dominant early-onset AD (FAD), (2) patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), particularly in memory, who are at very high risk for declining to AD with an estimated decline rate of 10-30% per year, (3) normal young and middle-age subjects carriers of known susceptibility genes for late-onset AD such as the Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) E4 allele, and (4) as age is the main risk factor for AD, normal elderly individuals followed to the onset of MCI and AD. Overall, these studies show that the use of imaging for the early detection of AD is successful even in the earlier stages of disease when clinical symptoms are not fully expressed and the regional brain damage may be limited.
Mosconi
Lisa
L
Center for Brain Health MHL-400, New York University School of Medicine, 560 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. lisa.mosconi@med.nyu.edu
Brys
Miroslaw
M
Glodzik-Sobanska
Lidia
L
De Santi
Susan
S
Rusinek
Henry
H
de Leon
Mony J
MJ
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18