Histopathology and Florbetaben PET in Patients Incorrectly Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Of 57 individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a phase III study, 13 (23%) had amyloid-β (Aβ) levels on postmortem histopathology that did not explain the dementia. Based on postmortem histopathology, a wide range of different non-AD conditions was identified, including frontotemporal dementia, hippocampal sclerosis, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Of the histopathologically Aβ negative scored cases ante-mortem Florbetaben PET scans were classified as negative for Aβ in 11 patients based on visual analysis and in all 12 quantifiable cases based on composite standardized uptake value ratios. Thus, florbetaben PET can assist physicians in the differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders by reliably excluding Aβ pathology.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; florbetaben PET; histopathology.