Change in brain amyloid load and cognition in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment : a 3-year follow-up study

• Background: Our aim was to investigate the discriminative value of 18F-Flutemetamol PET in longitudinal assessment of amyloid beta accumulation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, in relation to longitudinal cognitive changes.Methods: We investigated the change in 18F-Flutemetamol uptake and cognitive impairment in aMCI patients over time up to 3 years which enabled us to investigate possible association between changes in brain amyloid load and cognition over time. Thirty-four patients with aMCI (mean age 73.4 years, SD 6.6) were examined with 18F-Flutemetamol PET scan, brain MRI and cognitive tests at baseline and after 3-year follow-up or earlier if the patient had converted to Alzheimer´s disease (AD). 18F-Flutemetamol data were analyzed both with automated region-of-interest analysis and voxel-based statistical parametric mapping.Results: 18F-flutemetamol uptake increased during the follow-up, and the increase was significantly higher in patients who were amyloid positive at baseline as compared to the amyloid-negative ones. At follow-up, there was a significant association between 18F-Flutemetamol uptake and MMSE, logical memory I (immediate recall), logical memory II (delayed recall) and verbal fluency. An association was seen between the increase in 18F-Flutemetamol uptake and decline in MMSE and logical memory I scores.Conclusions: In the early phase of aMCI, presence of amyloid pathology at baseline strongly predicted amyloid accumulation during follow-up, which was further paralleled by cognitive declines. Inversely, some of our patients remained amyloid negative also at the end of the study without significant change in 18F-Flutemetamol uptake or cognition. Future studies with longer follow-up are needed to distinguish whether the underlying pathophysiology of aMCI in such patients is other than AD.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Neurologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Neurology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Radiologi och bildbehandling (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Alzheimer

Amyloid PET

Cognition

Flutemetamol

Follow-up

Mild cognitive impairment

Positron emission tomography

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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