A Cochrane review on brain [18F]FDG PET in dementia: limitations and future perspectives

• Published in: European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging 2015-09, Vol.42 (10), p.1487-1491
• Main Authors: Morbelli, Silvia, Garibotto, Valentina, Van De Giessen, Elsmarieke, Arbizu, Javier, Chételat, Gaël, Drezgza, Alexander, Hesse, Swen, Lammertsma, Adriaan A., Law, Ian, Pappata’, Sabina, Payoux, Pierre, Pagani, Marco
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - metabolism; Cardiology; Cognitive Dysfunction - complications; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnostic imaging; Cognitive Dysfunction - metabolism; Dementia; Dementia - diagnostic imaging; Dementia - etiology; Dementia - metabolism; Editorial; Evidence-Based Medicine; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 - pharmacokinetics; Forecasting; Humans; Imaging; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medical imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nuclear Medicine; Oncology; Orthopedics; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Positron-Emission Tomography - trends; Radiology; Radiopharmaceuticals - pharmacokinetics; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography
• ISSN: 1619-7070; 1619-7089
• DOI: 10.1007/s00259-015-3098-2

Based on a large body of evidence on its diagnostic sensitivity for the identification of AD, in 2004 [18F]FDG PET imaging was approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, USA) as a routine examination tool for early and differential diagnosis of AD. Since then, large amounts of additional [18F]FDG PET data have become available showing that the addition of [18F]FDG PET to clinical examinations increases diagnostic accuracy in identifying AD patients even in the predementia stage. Of course, new opportunities and new challenges are coming up, which require the definition of the specific role of [18F]FDG PET in the era of AD biomarkers (i.e. relationship with other biomarkers and role as a marker of progression in AD [46, 48]). Meanwhile, in daily clinical practice, nuclear medicine experts should continue to perform high-quality [18F]FDG PET scans, constantly improving the standard through continuous education and the use of appropriate tools, knowing that it is one of the most informative biomarkers currently available for the prediction of dementia at the MCI stage.