Predicting Alzheimer's: PET Scan Plus Memory Test Works Best

Predicting Alzheimer's: PET Scan Plus Memory Test Works Best June 30, 2010 -- About half of older people with memory loss who meet the clinical definition of mild cognitive impairment will develop Alzheimer’s disease within five years, but predicting who will and will not progress to dementia remains a challenge.

Genetic, biochemical, and brain imaging analyses all have some value in measuring cognitive decline, but the predictive value of these tests for identifying patients who will progress to Alzheimer’s disease has not been clear until now.

In one of the largest studies ever to compare the tests, researchers from the University of California-Berkeley found that word-recollection memory testing combined with PET scans of the brain was best able to predict who would develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Study participants whose PET scans and memory tests were abnormal were nearly 12 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people whose scores on both tests were normal.

“These two tests were highly predictive of progression to Alzheimer’s disease in people with mild cognitive impairment,” researcher Susan M. Landau, PhD, of the University of California-Berkeley, tells WebMD.

Slideshow: When a Loved One Has Alzheimer's