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Multimodality imaging of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative dementias
Nasrallah IM, Wolk DA.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2014-11-20
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease, result in cognitive decline and dementia and are a leading cause of mortality in the growing elderly population. These progressive diseases typically have an insidious onset, with overlapping clinical features early in the disease course that make diagnosis challenging. The neurodegenerative diseases are associated with characteristic, although not completely understood, changes in the brain: abnormal protein deposition, synaptic dysfunction, neuronal injury, and neuronal death. Neuroimaging biomarkers-principally regional atrophy on structural MR imaging, patterns of hypometabolism on (18)F-FDG PET, and detection of cerebral amyloid plaque on amyloid PET--are able to evaluate the patterns of these abnormalities in the brain to improve early diagnosis and help predict the disease course. These techniques have unique strengths and synergies in multimodality evaluation of the patient with cognitive decline or dementia. This review discusses the key imaging biomarkers from MR imaging, (18)F-FDG PET, and amyloid PET; the imaging features of the most common neurodegenerative dementias; the role of various neuroimaging studies in differential diagnosis and prognosis; and some promising imaging techniques under development.
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APA 7th
Nasrallah, I. M., & Wolk, D. A. (2014). Multimodality imaging of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative dementias. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.114.141416
Vancouver
Nasrallah IM, Wolk DA. Multimodality imaging of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative dementias. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 2014. doi:10.2967/jnumed.114.141416. PMID: 25413136.
BibTeX
@article{nasrallah2014-25413136,
author = {Nasrallah, I. M. and Wolk, D. A.},
title = {{Multimodality imaging of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative dementias}},
journal = {Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.2967/jnumed.114.141416},
pmid = {25413136},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.114.141416}
}
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Key findings
- Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease, result in cognitive decline and dementia and are a leading cause of mortality in the growing elderly population.
- The neurodegenerative diseases are associated with characteristic, although not completely understood, changes in the brain: abnormal protein deposition, synaptic dysfunction, neuronal injury, and neuronal death.
Why it matters
This review describes how neuroimaging biomarkers, mainly regional atrophy on structural MRI, patterns of hypometabolism on 18F-FDG PET, and cerebral amyloid plaque detection on amyloid PET, can evaluate brain abnormalities to improve early diagnosis and help predict disease course in neurodegenerative dementias. It discusses the strengths and synergies of these techniques and some promising imaging methods under development, but it reports no treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
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 (Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of Nuclear Medicine: journal h-index 230 (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 | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 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 73 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 5.2 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.8× 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 13 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author David A. Wolk: h-index 96 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Pennsylvania: institution h-index 1,859 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25413136) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
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