Sensitivity of SPECT for the Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

The objective of this study was to define the technical and clinical variables which affect the sensitivity of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This was a retrospective analysis of 250 consecutive SPECT studies performed for the d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical gerontologist 2000, Vol.22 (1), p.73-82
Main Authors: Ott, Brian R., Noto, Richard B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alzheimer's Disease
Biological and medical sciences
dementia
Diagnosis
Medical sciences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Retrospective studies
Sensitivity
Single photon emission computed tomography
SPECT
Techniques and methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The objective of this study was to define the technical and clinical variables which affect the sensitivity of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This was a retrospective analysis of 250 consecutive SPECT studies performed for the diagnostic evaluation of degenerative dementia or memory disorder. The sensitivity of bilateral temporoparie-tal perfusion defects for probable AD cases was not affected by age, education, or technical factors such as the interpreting radiologist, type of radionuclide, and use of a ring detector system. Sensitivity increased with severity of dementia and duration of disease. Sensitivity also increased with male gender due to a higher prevalence of unilateral defects in women with probable AD. This gender effect was absent if unilateral temporoparietal defects were considered diagnostic of AD. Due to the high prevalence of AD, the most common outcome of SPECT in this series was to confirm the clinical diagnosis of AD; however, SPECT may be of greatest value for ruling in a diagnosis of AD in questionable or early dementia cases. For this purpose, the maximum yield of positive diagnosis came from examination of those who had dementia symptoms greater than one year and those who were male.
ISSN:0731-7115
1545-2301
DOI:10.1300/J018v22n01_07