Alzheimer's Imaging Test Will Soon Become a Reality

Patients and doctors alike will soon benefit from the advantages of having access to the first imaging test that will enable the visualization of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the human brain. The test is bound to help millions of patients around the world.

On Thursday, January 20, an advisory committee in charge of assessing the effectiveness of the new method recommended to the US Food and Drug Administration that the scan method be approved.

What it does is essentially show the locations of amyloid plaques, which are hallmarks of AD, and one of the main things doctors look for when establishing diagnostics, experts at Northwestern University explain.

The structures are in fact aggregates made up of insoluble fibrous proteins, and these structures have been proven in past investigations to play an important role in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.

“It’s a very good thing. It’s advancing our knowledge of Alzheimer’s and it will help some patients,” explains neurologist Dr Tom Ala, who is based at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine Center for Alzheimer’s.

The expert says that Alzheimer-associated plaques can be found in the human brain rather easily, if healthcare experts begin to use the novel imaging drug florbetapir. The approval of florbetapir injections was not endorsed by the FDA committee.

Rather, the advisors proposed that the FDA approves the dye imaging system only if training program for users are developed and implemented. The committee believes that more data is needed to show that the scans conducted while using florbetapir are reliable.

One of the reasons why the experts are skeptical about the tests is that trials were conducted only on patients who suffered from Alzheimer's in its late stages, and who were at the end of their lives.

“The study tested this PET scan in a group of patients that were end-stage Alzheimer’s. Will this work in patients who have mild or moderate Alzheimer’s? We’re guessing it will,” Ala says.

“The Alzheimer’s Association supports an FDA advisory committee recommendation of approval of florbetapir, once its questions are thoroughly answered, but we acknowledge that it is a double-edged sword,” the Chicago-based Alzheimer’s Association says in a statement.

“Bottom line for me is that I think it’s a good development. There will be usage for it, but we’re not sure of all the nuances yet and how exactly it will fit into the day-to-day and evaluating patients,” Ala concludes.