Record Status This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database. Citation BlueCross BlueShield Association. Beta amyloid imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for evaluation of suspected alzheimer's disease or other causes of cognitive decline. Chicago: BlueCross BlueShield Association (BCBS). TEC Assessment 27(5). 2012 Authors' objectives To determine whether evaluating patients with suspected Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other causes of cognitive decline using beta amyloid imaging by positron emission tomography (PET) results in improved health outcomes compared to no testing. Authors' conclusions In general, evidence of a health benefit or clinical utility from testing requires demonstration of:
•incremental improvement in diagnostic or prognostic accuracy over current practice and
•that incremental improvements lead to improved health outcomes (e.g., by informing clinical management decisions), and
•that these outcomes may be obtained (i.e., are generalizable) outside of the investigational setting.
The use of florbetapir F18 PET in individuals with suspected AD, other causes of dementia, or cognitive decline does meet any of these criteria. Studies have shown that florbetapir F18 PET results correlate with histopathologic findings at autopsy. This finding is important. Studies have also suggested that florbetapir F18 PET has some ability to differentiate between cognitively normal adults and patients with AD. However, the studies are limited by small sample sizes, differences in determining outcomes (e.g., qualitative versus quantitative, unknown impact of training for physicians inexperienced with this modality), and the lack of evidence obtained from populations encountered in clinical practice. No information is available on the impact of this test on clinical outcomes, and few data are available on whether it can accurately identify patients with MCI who will develop AD. Indexing Status Subject indexing assigned by NLM MeSH Alzheimer Disease /pathology /radionuclide imaging; Amyloid beta-Peptides /analysis; Aniline Compounds; Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans; Brain /pathology /radionuclide imaging; Clinical Trials as Topic; Cognition Disorders /pathology /radionuclide imaging; Device Approval; Ethylene Glycolss; Plaque, Amyloid /complications /pathology /radionuclide imaging; Positron-Emission Tomography /methods; Technology Assessment, Biomedical; Treatment Outcome; United States Language Published English Country of organisation United States English summary An English language summary is available. Address for correspondence BlueCross BlueShield Association, Technology Evaluation Center, 225 North Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Tel: 888 832 4321 Email: tec@bcbsa.com AccessionNumber 32013000451 Date abstract record published 20/06/2013 |