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Partial-Volume Effect Correction Improves Quantitative Analysis of 18F-Florbetaben β-Amyloid PET Scans
Rullmann M, Dukart J, Hoffmann KT, Luthardt J, Tiepolt S, Patt M, Gertz HJ, Schroeter ML et al.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2015-11-05
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Unlabelled Neocortical atrophy reduces PET signal intensity, potentially affecting the diagnostic efficacy of β-amyloid (Aβ) brain PET imaging. This study investigated whether partial-volume effect correction (PVEC), adjusting for this atrophy bias, improves the accuracy of (18)F-florbetaben Aβ PET. Methods We analyzed (18)F-florbetaben PET and MRI data obtained from 3 cohorts. The first was 10 patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD) and 10 age-matched healthy controls (HCs), the second was 31 subjects who underwent in vivo imaging and postmortem histopathology for Aβ plaques, and the third was 5 subjects who underwent PET and MRI at baseline and 1 y later. The imaging data were coregistered and segmented. PVEC was performed using the voxel-based modified Müller-Gärtner method (PVELab, SPM8). From the PET data, regional and composite SUV ratios (SUVRs) with and without PVEC were obtained. In the MRI data, mesial temporal lobe atrophy was determined by the Scheltens mesial temporal atrophy scale and gray matter volumes by voxel-based morphometry. Results In cohort 1, PVEC increased the effect on AD-versus-HC discrimination from a Cohen d value of 1.68 to 2.0 for composite SUVRs and from 0.04 to 1.04 for mesial temporal cortex SUVRs. The PVEC-related increase in mesial temporal cortex SUVR correlated with the Scheltens score (r = 0.84, P Conclusion The influence of PVEC on (18)F-florbetaben PET data is associated with the degree of brain atrophy. Thus, PVEC increases the ability of (18)F-florbetaben PET to discriminate between AD patients and HCs, to detect Aβ plaques in the atrophic mesial temporal cortex, and potentially to evaluate changes in brain Aβ load over time. As such, the use of PVEC should be considered for quantitative (18)F-florbetaben PET scans, especially in assessing patients with brain atrophy.
Key findings
- Results In cohort 1, PVEC increased the effect on AD-versus-HC discrimination from a Cohen d value of 1.68 to 2.0 for composite SUVRs and from 0.04 to 1.04 for mesial temporal cortex SUVRs.
- The PVEC-related increase in mesial temporal cortex SUVR correlated with the Scheltens score (r = 0.84, P Conclusion The influence of PVEC on (18)F-florbetaben PET data is associated with the degree of brain atrophy.
Why it matters
Applying partial-volume effect correction improved discrimination between Alzheimer disease patients and healthy controls on 18F-florbetaben amyloid PET, and the correction's effect correlated with brain atrophy. This is a technical imaging analysis method, not a treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a mid-stage phase 2 trial. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported 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 | 8 / 12 | A mid-stage phase 2 trial (from PubMed type “Clinical Trial, Phase II”) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 66 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 5.5 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 6 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Henryk Barthel: h-index 66 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Lausanne: institution h-index 994 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26541776) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.115.161893
- PubMed: 26541776
- Original source →
- Free full text: jnm.snmjournals.org →
Full text: free to read — Unpaywall lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
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. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Rullmann, M., Dukart, J., Hoffmann, K. T., Luthardt, J., Tiepolt, S., Patt, M., et al. (2016). Partial-Volume Effect Correction Improves Quantitative Analysis of 18F-Florbetaben β-Amyloid PET Scans. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.115.161893
Vancouver
Rullmann M, Dukart J, Hoffmann KT, Luthardt J, Tiepolt S, Patt M, et al. Partial-Volume Effect Correction Improves Quantitative Analysis of 18F-Florbetaben β-Amyloid PET Scans. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 2016. doi:10.2967/jnumed.115.161893. PMID: 26541776.
BibTeX
@article{rullmann2016-26541776,
author = {Rullmann, M. and Dukart, J. and Hoffmann, K. T. and Luthardt, J. and Tiepolt, S. and Patt, M. and Gertz, H. J. and Schroeter, M. L. and others},
title = {{Partial-Volume Effect Correction Improves Quantitative Analysis of 18F-Florbetaben β-Amyloid PET Scans}},
journal = {Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.2967/jnumed.115.161893},
pmid = {26541776},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.115.161893}
}
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