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Clinical Amyloid Imaging
Mallik A, Drzezga A, Minoshima S.. Seminars in nuclear medicine, 2016-11-24
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Amyloid plaques, along with neurofibrillary tangles, are a neuropathologic hallmark of Alzheimer disease (AD). Recently, amyloid PET radiotracers have been developed and approved for clinical use in the evaluation of suspected neurodegenerative disorders. In both research and clinical settings, amyloid PET imaging has provided important diagnostic and prognostic information for the management of patients with possible AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and other challenging diagnostic presentations. Although the overall impact of amyloid imaging is still being evaluated, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and Alzheimer's Association Amyloid Imaging Task Force have created appropriate use criteria for the standard clinical use of amyloid PET imaging. By the appropriate use criteria, amyloid imaging is appropriate for patients with (1) persistent or unexplained MCI, (2) AD as a possible but still uncertain diagnosis after expert evaluation and (3) atypically early-age-onset progressive dementia. To better understand the clinical and economic effect of amyloid imaging, the Imaging Dementia-Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) study is an ongoing large multicenter study in the United States, which is evaluating how amyloid imaging affects diagnosis, management, and outcomes for cognitively impaired patients who cannot be completely evaluated by clinical assessment alone. Multiple other large-scale studies are evaluating the prognostic role of amyloid PET imaging for predicting MCI progression to AD in general and high-risk populations. At the same time, amyloid imaging is an important tool for evaluating potential disease-modifying therapies for AD. Overall, the increased use of amyloid PET imaging has led to a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of this imaging modality and how it may best be used with other clinical, molecular, and imaging assessment techniques for the diagnosis and management of neurodegenerative disorders.
Key findings
- Although the overall impact of amyloid imaging is still being evaluated, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and Alzheimer's Association Amyloid Imaging Task Force have created appropriate use criteria for the standard clinical use of amyloid PET imaging.
- Overall, the increased use of amyloid PET imaging has led to a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of this imaging modality and how it may best be used with other clinical, molecular, and imaging assessment techniques for the diagnosis and management of neurodegenerative disorders.
Why it matters
This review describes how amyloid PET imaging is used clinically to evaluate suspected neurodegenerative disorders and notes appropriate use criteria for patients with unexplained mild cognitive impairment, uncertain Alzheimer's diagnosis, or atypically early-onset dementia. It states that the overall impact of amyloid imaging is still being evaluated, so it does not establish that imaging improves patient outcomes.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Seminars in nuclear medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Seminars in Nuclear Medicine: journal h-index 127 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 62 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 5.6 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 8 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Satoshi Minoshima: h-index 89 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Utah: institution h-index 1,238 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27987555) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
May need a subscription Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 10 Oct 2026), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Mallik, A., Drzezga, A., & Minoshima, S. (2017). Clinical Amyloid Imaging. Seminars in nuclear medicine. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2016.09.005
Vancouver
Mallik A, Drzezga A, Minoshima S. Clinical Amyloid Imaging. Seminars in nuclear medicine. 2017. doi:10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2016.09.005. PMID: 27987555.
BibTeX
@article{mallik2017-27987555,
author = {Mallik, A. and Drzezga, A. and Minoshima, S.},
title = {{Clinical Amyloid Imaging}},
journal = {Seminars in nuclear medicine},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2016.09.005},
pmid = {27987555},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2016.09.005}
}
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