Using Meta-Analyses to Better Understand Amyloid Imaging Implications

Aggregation of cerebral amyloid is an early pathological change in Alzheimer disease (AD) and may precede the onset of neurobehavioral symptoms by decades. Neuroimaging with positron emission tomography (PET) detects fibrillar amyloid plaques, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis assesses beta-amyloid levels. These techniques provide in vivo measures of amyloid biology and are presumed useful diagnostically, as evidenced by inclusion in recent iterations of AD diagnostic criteria. Neither biomarker assessment is routinely used in clinical practice or universally reimbursed by insurers. Two companion meta-analyses used individual participant data to determine the prevalence of amyloid pathology in individuals with and without dementia.

Jans…