Leo Sher, M.D.

A research report, “Accuracy of tau positron emission tomography as a prognostic marker in preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer disease: A head-to-head comparison against amyloid positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging” has been published in JAMA Neurology online ahead of print (1).

Data collected between 2014 and 2021 for an ongoing study of Alzheimer’s disease conducted in South Korea, Sweden, and the US were analyzed. A total of 1431 participants were recruited from memory clinics, clinical trials, or cohort studies; 673 were cognitively unimpaired, 443 had mild cognitive impairment, and 315 had a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. Cognitive changes were assessed by tau positron emission tomography (PET), amyloid PET, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) yearly. The duration of follow-up was 22.7 ± 9.8 months.

The authors observed that tau PET was superior at predicting cognitive changes compared with MRI or amyloid PET. The authors concluded that tau PET is a promising tool for predicting cognitive change that is superior to amyloid PET and MRI and may support the prognostic process in preclinical and prodromal stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Reference

1. Ossenkoppele R, Smith R, Mattsson-Carlgren N, Groot C, Leuzy A, Strandberg O, Palmqvist S, Olsson T, Jögi J, Stormrud E, Cho H, Ryu YH, Choi JY, Boxer AL, Gorno-Tempini ML, Miller BL, Soleimani-Meigooni D, Iaccarino L, La Joie R, Baker S, Borroni E, Klein G, Pontecorvo MJ, Devous MD Sr, Jagust WJ, Lyoo CH, Rabinovici GD, Hansson O. Accuracy of tau positron emission tomography as a prognostic marker in preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer disease: A head-to-head comparison against amyloid positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. JAMA Neurol. 2021 Jun 28:e211858. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.1858. Epub ahead of print.