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New Criteria Developed for Appropriate Use of Amyloid, Tau PET

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 17, 2025.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 17, 2025 -- Appropriate use criteria (AUC) for the use of amyloid and tau positron emission tomography (PET) have been issued by the Alzheimer's Association and the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and published online Jan. 8 in both Alzheimer's & Dementia and the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Gil D. Rabinovici, M.D., from the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues updated AUC for amyloid PET and developed AUC for tau PET. Key research questions that guided a systematic literature review on clinical amyloid/tau PET were identified. Based on this review, 17 clinical scenarios were developed in which amyloid or tau PET may be considered.

The researchers found that seven scenarios were rated as appropriate, two as uncertain, and eight as rarely appropriate for amyloid PET. Five scenarios were rated as appropriate, six as uncertain, and six as rarely appropriate for tau PET. Both amyloid and tau PET are considered appropriate for patients presenting with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia who are younger than 65 years and in whom Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology is suspected; for patients presenting with MCI or dementia syndrome that could be consistent with AD pathology but has atypical features; to inform the prognosis of patients presenting with MCI due to clinically suspected AD pathology; and to determine eligibility for treatment with an approved amyloid-targeting therapy.

"Amyloid and tau PET can support and enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis, which is essential to high quality care and treatment for dementia, providing appropriate support services and future planning," Rabinovici said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Abstract/Full Text: Alzheimer's & Dementia

Abstract/Full Text: Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted January 2025

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