There are many active research projects accessing and applying shared ADNI data. Use the search above to find specific research focuses on the active ADNI investigations. This information is requested annually as a requirement for data access.
| Principal Investigator | |
| Principal Investigator's Name: | Fabio Raman |
| Institution: | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Department: | Radiology |
| Country: | |
| Proposed Analysis: | Utilizing 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET and additional clinical biomarkers to assess patients with equivocal 18F-AV45 PET scans Fabio Raman, Sameera Grandhi, Yu-Hua Fang, Erik Roberson, Jon McConathy Precis: Introduction: Amyloid PET imaging has been established as a non-invasive method for detecting cortical beta-amyloid in clinical and research settings. Approximately 10-20% of clinical amyloid-PET studies are equivocal, and better characterization of the scientific and clinical implications of equivocal clinical amyloid-PET scans in cognitively normal controls (CN) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) would be valuable for referring clinicians and patients. It is currently unclear if additional imaging is useful in patients with equivocal amyloid PET studies, and the prognosis for CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal clinical amyloid-PET studies has not yet been established. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that volumetric MRI and 18F-FDG-PET imaging may be useful for predicting cognitive status over the next 2 years for CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal amyloid-PET scans. Research Goals: 1) Compare the status and severity of cognitive decline over 2 years in individuals with MCI or early AD and equivocal amyloid-PET studies based on clinical interpretation criteria to those with negative and positive amyloid-PET studies. 2) Determine if the addition of brain FDG-PET and volumetric MRI analysis for CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal amyloid-PET scans better predicts the status and severity of cognitive decline over the next 2 years than amyloid-PET alone. Proposal: Introduction: Recent studies have demonstrated that PET ligands that bind to beta-amyloid are effective surrogates for cerebral cortical amyloid burden in Alzheimer’s disease. Several amyloid PET tracers have been approved by the FDA and are used clinically in patients with MCI or early AD and dementia of uncertain etiology. Additionally, research studies are being conducted for CN individuals to assess pathology before onset of clinical symptoms and potentially develop successful interventions. An emerging challenge is providing guidance to dementia specialists and their patients when clinical amyloid-PET studies are equivocal based on standard clinical interpretation criteria. Further diagnostic testing such as FDG-PET and volumetric brain MRI may be useful for predicting prognosis in this patient population as these imaging tests are more closely related to cognitive decline than amyloid-PET. Our hypothesis is that CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal amyloid-PET scans may benefit from FDG-PET and/or volumetric MRI for predicting decline in cognitive status over the following 2 years. Methods: CN, MCI, and AD individuals in the ADNI database who have an amyloid-PET scan performed with an FDA approved amyloid PET tracer, a brain FDG-PET and a volumetric brain MRI within 1 year of the amyloid-PET study, and at least 2 years of follow up after the amyloid-PET study will be included in this analysis. Two experienced nuclear medicine physicians will interpret the amyloid-PET scans for these individuals based on clinical interpretation criteria and will categorize them as positive, negative, or equivocal. Cases that are determined by both readers to be difficult to categorize as clearly positive or negative and cases where the interpretations of the 2 readers differ will be designated as equivocal. Each of these equivocal cases will be age and sexed matched with CN, MCI, and AD individuals, respectively, who have clearly negative or positive amyloid-PET studies based on clinical interpretation criteria. The status and severity of cognitive decline in the 2 years following the amyloid-PET study will be determined for the amyloid-PET positive, negative, and equivocal groups. Quantification of regional metabolism based on brain FDG-PET and regional brain volumes on MRI will be determined for all individuals in this study. Analysis will initially focus on the following brain regions: temporal (medial, inferior, and lateral), parietal (medial and lateral), posterior cingulate, precuneus, hippocampus, and amygdala. The status of abnormal FDG-PET and volumetric MRI in the equivocal amyloid-PET group will be compared to the positive and negative amyloid-PET groups. Statistical analysis will be performed to compare Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive (ADAS-cog) scores over the two-year follow-up period. Multivariate regression analysis will be performed to determine whether 1) baseline FDG-PET and/or volumetric brain MRI better predict cognitive outcomes at 2 years than amyloid-PET alone in individuals with equivocal amyloid-PET studies and 2) longitudinal FDG-PET and/or volumetric brain MRI predict cognitive decline at least 6 months before 2 year follow-up. |
| Additional Investigators | |
| Investigator's Name: | Jon McConathy |
| Proposed Analysis: | Utilizing 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET and additional clinical biomarkers to assess patients with equivocal 18F-AV45 PET scans Fabio Raman, Sameera Grandhi, Erik Middlebrooks, Erik Roberson, Jon McConathy Precis: Introduction: Amyloid PET imaging has been established as a non-invasive method for detecting cortical beta-amyloid in clinical and research settings. Approximately 10-20% of clinical amyloid-PET studies are equivocal, and better characterization of the scientific and clinical implications of equivocal clinical amyloid-PET scans in cognitively normal controls (CN) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) would be valuable for referring clinicians and patients. It is currently unclear if additional imaging is useful in patients with equivocal amyloid PET studies, and the prognosis for CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal clinical amyloid-PET studies has not yet been established. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that volumetric MRI and 18F-FDG-PET imaging may be useful for predicting cognitive status over the next 2 years for CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal amyloid-PET scans. Research Goals: 1) Compare the status and severity of cognitive decline over 2 years in individuals with MCI or early AD and equivocal amyloid-PET studies based on clinical interpretation criteria to those with negative and positive amyloid-PET studies. 2) Determine if the addition of brain FDG-PET and volumetric MRI analysis for CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal amyloid-PET scans better predicts the status and severity of cognitive decline over the next 2 years than amyloid-PET alone. Proposal: Introduction: Recent studies have demonstrated that PET ligands that bind to beta-amyloid are effective surrogates for cerebral cortical amyloid burden in Alzheimer’s disease. Several amyloid PET tracers have been approved by the FDA and are used clinically in patients with MCI or early AD and dementia of uncertain etiology. Additionally, research studies are being conducted for CN individuals to assess pathology before onset of clinical symptoms and potentially develop successful interventions. An emerging challenge is providing guidance to dementia specialists and their patients when clinical amyloid-PET studies are equivocal based on standard clinical interpretation criteria. Further diagnostic testing such as FDG-PET and volumetric brain MRI may be useful for predicting prognosis in this patient population as these imaging tests are more closely related to cognitive decline than amyloid-PET. Our hypothesis is that CN, MCI, and AD individuals and equivocal amyloid-PET scans may benefit from FDG-PET and/or volumetric MRI for predicting decline in cognitive status over the following 2 years. Methods: CN, MCI, and AD individuals in the ADNI database who have an amyloid-PET scan performed with an FDA approved amyloid PET tracer, a brain FDG-PET and a volumetric brain MRI within 1 year of the amyloid-PET study, and at least 2 years of follow up after the amyloid-PET study will be included in this analysis. Two experienced nuclear medicine physicians will interpret the amyloid-PET scans for these individuals based on clinical interpretation criteria and will categorize them as positive, negative, or equivocal. Cases that are determined by both readers to be difficult to categorize as clearly positive or negative and cases where the interpretations of the 2 readers differ will be designated as equivocal. Each of these equivocal cases will be age and sexed matched with CN, MCI, and AD individuals, respectively, who have clearly negative or positive amyloid-PET studies based on clinical interpretation criteria. The status and severity of cognitive decline in the 2 years following the amyloid-PET study will be determined for the amyloid-PET positive, negative, and equivocal groups. Quantification of regional metabolism based on brain FDG-PET and regional brain volumes on MRI will be determined for all individuals in this study. Analysis will initially focus on the following brain regions: temporal (medial, inferior, and lateral), parietal (medial and lateral), posterior cingulate, precuneus, hippocampus, and amygdala. The status of abnormal FDG-PET and volumetric MRI in the equivocal amyloid-PET group will be compared to the positive and negative amyloid-PET groups. Statistical analysis will be performed to compare Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive (ADAS-cog) scores over the two-year follow-up period. Multivariate regression analysis will be performed to determine whether 1) baseline FDG-PET and/or volumetric brain MRI better predict cognitive outcomes at 2 years than amyloid-PET alone in individuals with equivocal amyloid-PET studies and 2) longitudinal FDG-PET and/or volumetric brain MRI predict cognitive decline at least 6 months before 2 year follow-up. |
| Investigator's Name: | Jordan Tzabari |
| Proposed Analysis: | will conduct image analysis for equivocal amyloid PET project |
| Investigator's Name: | Kayla Charniaux |
| Proposed Analysis: | will conduct image analysis of amyloid PET project |
