Florbetapir 18F (18F-AV-45) amyloid PET imaging in focal dementia

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Florbetapir amyloid PET imaging in focal dementia syndromes

• IRAS ID

  60049

• Contact name

  Jonathan Schott

• Sponsor organisation

  Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc.

• Eudract number

  2010-023852-10

• ISRCTN Number

  ISRCTN

• Research summary

  There are numerous causes of dementia, the commonest of which are ??neurodegenerative?, i.e related to excess brain cell loss. A common feature of the neurodegenerative dementias is accumulation of abnormal proteins within the brain, the nature and distribution of which defines the different dementias. The commonest is Alzheimer??s disease, where beta-amyloid and tau proteins are responsible. Other forms of dementia are associated with accumulation of different brain proteins. Distinguishing between these conditions on the basis of the responsible abnormal protein will be crucial as new targeted therapies become available. At present, the only certain way to sub-divide these diseases is to look at the brain under a microscope. A major development has been the ability to detect Alzheimer pathology (amyloid) using specialist PET scans. This is proving to be helpful in distinguishing Alzheimer??s disease from other forms of dementia. Recent PET developments may allow for wider use of the technology. This study will utilise PET scanning with FDG-PET and the amyloid tracer (Florbetapir) to investigate brain metabolism and amyloid deposition in patients with focal dementia syndromes. These will include individuals with prominent impairment of speech (Primary Progressive Aphasia). Most patients with PPA are thought to have variants of FTLD. Emerging evidence suggests that analysis of the type of speech problem allows such patients to be divided into three groupsflunt speech - semantic dementia (SD); halting, stuttering speech - progressive noflunt aphasia (PNFA); word finding difficulties and long pauses - logopenic aphasia (LPA). Evidence from post-mortem studies and earlier amyloid PET studies suggests that of these three groups, most patients with LPA will have Alzheimer??s disease, with the other two groups having non-Alzheimer??s pathology. This study will test this hypothesis, contrasting findings with those from patients with biparietal AD and healthy controls.

• REC name

  London - Central Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  11/LO/1124

• Date of REC Opinion

  3 Oct 2011

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion