PiB Doesn't Fib: Noninvasive Detection of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Imaging with Pittsburgh Compound B reliably detects cerebral amyloid angiopathy, raising the possibility of clinical diagnostic applications.

Carbon 11–labeled Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) has been shown to penetrate to the central nervous system and mark fibrillar deposits of amyloid-beta. Although most studies of PiB have focused on imaging the senile plaques of Alzheimer disease (AD), PiB also binds to the vascular amyloid deposits that define cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). In this study, researchers sought to confirm the ability of PiB-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to detect CAA in living patients. They compared imaging findings in 12 patients with diagnoses of lobar hemorrhagic stroke related to CAA, 22 similar aged healthy controls, and 13 patients with AD.

The CAA group occupied a middle range of neocortical PiB retention, greater than that of controls but l…

Reviewing Author

Steven M. Greenberg, MD, PhD

PiB Doesn't Fib: Noninvasive Detection of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

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Reviewing Author