title: [(18)F]flutemetamol amyloid positron emission tomography in preclinical and symptomatic Alzheimer's disease: specific detection of advanced phases of amyloid-β pathology.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology-Laboratory of Neuropathology, Center for biomedical Research, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: dietmar.thal@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Dietmar Rudolf
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Thal
authors.affiliation: Civin Laboratory for Neuropathology, Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Beach
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences R&D Biometrics, GE Healthcare, Princeton, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanette
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences R&D, GE Healthcare, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Surgical Sciences: Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heurling
authors.affiliation: Pathology and Tumour Biology, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St. James Hospital, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Aruna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
authors.affiliation: Pathology and Tumour Biology, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St. James Hospital, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Azzam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences R&D, GE Healthcare, Amersham, UK.
authors.forename: Adrian P L
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences R&D, GE Healthcare, Amersham, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buckley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D000682:Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D001344:Autopsy; D052160:Benzothiazoles / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D000814:Aniline Compounds; D052160:Benzothiazoles; C581552:flutemetamol
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Amyloid PET; Preclinical stage; [(18)F]flutemetamol