Questions remain about what can be learned from PET images for Alzheimer’s disease and which people should have this test. To provide guidance for physicians, individuals, and families affected by Alzheimer’s and the public, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and the Alzheimer’s Association have jointly published the first criteria for the appropriate use of this imaging technology to aid in the diagnosis of people with suspected Alzheimer’s disease. The criteria was published as an article by Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association and in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

The AIT concluded that amyloid imaging could potentially be helpful in the diagnosis of people with cognitive impairment when considered along with other clinical information, and when performed according to standardized protocols by trained staff.

Although identifying potential benefits, the AIT concluded that amyloid PET results will not constitute and is not equivalent to a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. They said that imaging is only one tool among many that clinicians should use judiciously to manage patients, and that amyloid PET imaging does not substitute for a careful history and examination.