Amyloid PET makes a strong early showing in IDEAS study

Amyloid PET scans changed clinical care management in some 67.8 percent of 3,979 patients with mild cognitive impairment who are enrolled in the IDEAS study led by the Alzheimer’s Association and managed by the American College of Radiology and ACR’s Radiology Imaging Network.

The finding is among the first to come from the study, an interim report on which was presented today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London.

The researchers further found amyloid PET scans reduced the need for additional neuropsychological testing (from 26.3 percent recommended pre-PET to 11.0 percent recommended post-PET) and spinal fluid testing (from 10.5 percent to 1.0 percent).

“Our original hypothesis was that having amyloid PET scan results would change medical management in 30 percent of cases,” principal investigator Gil Rabinovici, MD, of UC-San Francisco, told attendees, according to a press release sent by the association. “Our interim results suggest we are well on track to see an effect of at least that magnitude, and perhaps greater, when the final results are available.”

IDEAS—for Imaging Dementia: Evidence for Amyloid Scanning—launched last year. The trial is underway at around 200 sites throughout the U.S. and will enroll more than 18,000 Medicare beneficiaries 65 or older with mild cognitive impairment or atypical dementia.

“We look forward to reporting the results from the full study population,” Rabinovici added. “We are very grateful to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their support of the IDEAS study, as our results indicate that access to this technology is making a real difference in the care of patients.”