Clinical impact of [ 18 F]flutemetamol PET among memory clinic patients with an unclear diagnosis

Purpose To investigate the impact of amyloid PET with [ 18 F]flutemetamol on diagnosis and treatment management in a cohort of patients attending a tertiary memory clinic in whom, despite extensive cognitive assessment including neuropsychological testing, structural imaging, CSF biomarker analysis and in some cases [ 18 F]FDG PET, the diagnosis remained unclear. Methods The study population consisted of 207 patients with a clinical diagnosis prior to [ 18 F]flutemetamol PET including mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 131), Alzheimer’s disease (AD; n = 41), non-AD ( n = 10), dementia not otherwise specified (dementia NOS; n = 20) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD; n = 5). Results Amyloid positivity was found in 53% of MCI, 68% of AD, 20% of non-AD, 20% of dementia NOS, and 60% of SCD patients. [ 18 F]Flutemetamol PET led, overall, to a change in diagnosis in 92 of the 207 patients (44%). A high percentage of patients with a change in diagnosis was observed in the MCI group ( n = 67, 51%) and in the dementia NOS group ( n = 11; 55%), followed by the non-AD and AD (30% and 20%, respectively). A significant increase in cholinesterase inhibitor treatment was observed after [ 18 F]flutemetamol PET (+218%, 34 patients before and 108 patients after). Conclusion The present study lends support to the clinical value of amyloid PET in patients with an uncertain diagnosis in the tertiary memory clinic setting.