A Predictor of Early Cognitive Decline
Limitations of this study include observational design, loss of some patients to follow-up neuropsychological testing, and reliance on PET scans with Pittsburgh compound B as a marker for amyloid. Nonetheless, findings from this reasonably large sample suggest that amyloidosis in the brain predicts decline in longitudinal episodic memory in asymptomatic carriers of the ADAD mutation and cognitive decline across multiple domains in symptomatic patients with ADAD.
It therefore appears that cerebral amyloidosis predicts early cognitive decline, making it a potentially useful marker for trials of early evaluation, prevention, and intervention in ADAD and perhaps in sporadic late-onset AD as well.
There are many similarities between ADAD and sporadic AD. Previously, clinical research in sporadic AD was limited to persons with symptomatic AD or to retrospective study of events preceding the diagnosis of sporadic AD. In contrast, evaluation of persons with ADAD has allowed identification of those at risk before they become symptomatic and correlation of their findings with their expected age at symptom onset.
Abstract
Viewpoint
Limitations of this study include observational design, loss of some patients to follow-up neuropsychological testing, and reliance on PET scans with Pittsburgh compound B as a marker for amyloid. Nonetheless, findings from this reasonably large sample suggest that amyloidosis in the brain predicts decline in longitudinal episodic memory in asymptomatic carriers of the ADAD mutation and cognitive decline across multiple domains in symptomatic patients with ADAD.
It therefore appears that cerebral amyloidosis predicts early cognitive decline, making it a potentially useful marker for trials of early evaluation, prevention, and intervention in ADAD and perhaps in sporadic late-onset AD as well.
There are many similarities between ADAD and sporadic AD. Previously, clinical research in sporadic AD was limited to persons with symptomatic AD or to retrospective study of events preceding the diagnosis of sporadic AD. In contrast, evaluation of persons with ADAD has allowed identification of those at risk before they become symptomatic and correlation of their findings with their expected age at symptom onset.
Abstract
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