Alzheimer's disease detection with objective statistical evaluation of FDG-PET brain scans: Review

The anticipated introduction of disease-modifying agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) highlights the need for its early and accurate detection. This article provides an overview of the objective statistical voxel-based image processing and analyses technology that make early detection of AD with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET possible. Our report demonstrates that the comparison of a single FDG-PET scan with a group of control scans provides an objective statistical map that is useful for the detection of early stages of AD, augmenting visual inspection of the PET image itself. The need for early detection of AD, together with the power of voxel-based statistical analyses, provides an impetus for agencies to re-evaluate FDG-PET as an approved methodology for the early diagnosis of AD. The expected approval of disease-modifying agents for the treatment of AD places more emphasis on the need for earlier diagnosis of this common and devastating disorder.