Positron emission tomography (PET) using carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B (11 C-PiB) appears to be useful in the differential diagnosis of dementia, Australian researchers report.

Positron emission tomography (PET) using carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B (11 C-PiB) appears to be useful in the differential diagnosis of dementia, Australian researchers report in the August issue of the Archives of Neurology.

"This study shows the potential of new PET molecular imaging techniques to clarify the cause of dementia in individuals with unusual symptoms," senior investigator Dr. Christopher C. Rowe told Reuters Health.

Dr. Rowe, of Austin Health, Melbourne, and colleagues note that a progressive decline in episodic memory affecting daily living is typical in Alzheimer's disease. However, patients with symptoms such as language or visuospatial dysfunction often pose a diagnostic challenge.

To examine the utility of PET with 11 C-PiB in detecting beta amyloid, and thus helping with diagnosis, the researchers employed the approach in ten patients with Alzheimer's disease, one with progressive aphasia, one with posterior cortical atrophy and 15 healthy controls.

The team found that 11 C-PiB binding was higher in all of the patients than in controls. Moreover, both patients with atypical dementia had binding patterns similar to those in the Alzheimer's disease patients.

However, 11 C-PiB retention was significantly higher on the occipital cortex of the patient with posterior cortical atrophy. It was significantly higher on the left cerebral hemisphere in the patient with progressive aphasia.

The presence of these distinctive focal retention patterns, say the investigators, has the potential to facilitate differential diagnosis.

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