A workgroup convened by the Alzheimer’s Association and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging is updating criteria for the appropriate use of brain amyloid imaging technology to aid in the diagnosis of people with suspected Alzheimer's disease.

Project background

With dramatic recent advances in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer’s disease, the workgroup reviewed the current data and updated the 2013 appropriate use criteria (AUC) for amyloid PET. This update is inclusive of both amyloid and tau brain imaging.

The multidisciplinary workgroup, co-chaired by Dr. Gil D. Rabinovici and Dr. Keith A. Johnson, was composed of clinicians and other healthcare professionals with relevant expertise including neurologists, radiology/nuclear medicine physicians, PET imaging methodologists, neuro-ethicists, and pathology and laboratory medicine biomarker researchers.

The workgroup developed a set of questions to evaluate available evidence supporting the use of PET in the clinical assessment of suspected Alzheimer’s disease and submitted the questions to an independent research organization. This review guided articulation by the workgroup of candidate clinical scenarios in which providers might appropriately use a PET biomarker where Alzheimer’s is a suspected underlying pathology. Each scenario was then adjudicated based on the literature review and on expert opinion provided by the workgroup, which then scored each scenario on the level of appropriateness for use of either amyloid-beta or tau PET.

Draft manuscript

The public comment period has closed, but you can view a draft of the Updated Appropriate Use Criteria for Amyloid and Tau PET manuscript (PDF).
 

The workgroup will review all submitted comments and work to finalize the documents for submission in a research/medical journal in early 2024. Please contact Christopher Weber at cweber@alz.org with questions.

Workgroup member affiliations and disclosures

The multidisciplinary workgroup was comprised of clinicians and other healthcare professionals with relevant expertise. Each member has published extensively on topics related to the key considerations around the use of amyloid and tau PET, such as dementia research, clinical practice and ethics, and biomarker test validation and clinical utilization.

View each workgroup member's disclosures (PDF).

Javier Arbizu, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Navarra Clinic

Tammie L.S. Benzinger, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Radiology and Neurological Surgery, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology

Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D.
Chief Science Officer and Medical Affairs Lead, Alzheimer’s Association

Kevin Donohoe, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Oskar Hansson, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Neurology, Senior Consultant of Neurology, Lund University

Peter Herscovitch, M.D.
Director, PET Department, NIH Clinical Center

Keith Johnson, M.D.
Director, Molecular Neuroimaging Massachusetts General Hospital

David Knopman, M.D.
Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic

Phillip H. Kuo, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Medical Imaging, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Arizona

Jennifer Hagerty Lingler, Ph.D.
Professor, Vice Chair for Research Health & Community Systems, University of Pittsburgh

Satoshi Minoshima, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, University of Utah

Melissa E. Murray, Ph.D.
Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic

Julie C. Price, Ph.D.
Professor of Radiology Massachusetts General Hospital

Gil Rabinovici, M.D.
Professor, Departments of Neurology, Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco

Stephen Salloway, M.D., M.S.
Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and Founding Director of the Butler Hospital Memory and Aging Program

Christopher J. Weber, Ph.D.
Director, Global Science Initiatives, Alzheimer’s Association