Biomarker-Informed Treatment Decisions and Preclinical Alzheimer Disease

To the Editor In their Viewpoint on preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD), Langa and Burke cite data from the Imaging Dementia —Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) study to support the claim that positive results on amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) scans may lead to inappropriate use of AD medications in cognitively unimpaired individuals. Following published appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET, patients enrolled in the IDEAS study were required to meet clinical criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, and individuals with unimpaired cognition were excluded from the study. Physician choices about the treatment of patients with cognitive impairment in the IDEAS study should not be us ed to draw inferences regarding potential treatment of cognitively unimpaired individuals.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research