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The Role of Amyloid PET in Imaging Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Review
Chapleau M, Iaccarino L, Soleimani-Meigooni D, Rabinovici GD.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2022-06-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Imaging of amyloid deposition using PET has been available in research studies for 2 decades and has been approved for clinical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, and other regulatory agencies around the world. Amyloid PET is a crucial tool for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, as it allows the noninvasive detection of amyloid plaques, a core neuropathologic feature that defines the disease. The clinical use of amyloid PET is expected to increase with recent accelerated approval in the United States of aducanumab, an antiamyloid monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer disease. However, amyloid pathology can also be found in cognitively unimpaired older adults and in patients with other neurodegenerative disorders. The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of the application of amyloid PET in neurodegenerative diseases. We provide an in-depth analysis of the clinical, pathologic, and imaging correlates; a comparison with other available biomarkers; and a review of the application of amyloid PET in clinical trials and clinical utility studies.
Key findings
- Amyloid PET is a crucial tool for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, as it allows the noninvasive detection of amyloid plaques, a core neuropathologic feature that defines the disease.
- The clinical use of amyloid PET is expected to increase with recent accelerated approval in the United States of aducanumab, an antiamyloid monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer disease.
- However, amyloid pathology can also be found in cognitively unimpaired older adults and in patients with other neurodegenerative disorders.
- The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of the application of amyloid PET in neurodegenerative diseases.
- We provide an in-depth analysis of the clinical, pathologic, and imaging correlates; a comparison with other available biomarkers; and a review of the application of amyloid PET in clinical trials and clinical utility studies.
Why it matters
This review describes amyloid PET as a tool for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease by detecting amyloid plaques, and notes its expected increased use with the approval of the antiamyloid antibody aducanumab. It covers diagnosis and a treatment approval, but does not report that amyloid PET itself treats, cures, or prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
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 | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 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 | 5 / 7 | Cited 259 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 43.2 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 26.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 19 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 236 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Gil D. Rabinovici: h-index 116 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, San Francisco: institution h-index 1,915 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35649652) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Chapleau, M., Iaccarino, L., Soleimani-Meigooni, D., & Rabinovici, G. D. (2022). The Role of Amyloid PET in Imaging Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Review. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.121.263195
Vancouver
Chapleau M, Iaccarino L, Soleimani-Meigooni D, Rabinovici GD. The Role of Amyloid PET in Imaging Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Review. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 2022. doi:10.2967/jnumed.121.263195. PMID: 35649652.
BibTeX
@article{chapleau2022-35649652,
author = {Chapleau, M. and Iaccarino, L. and Soleimani-Meigooni, D. and Rabinovici, G. D.},
title = {{The Role of Amyloid PET in Imaging Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Review}},
journal = {Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.2967/jnumed.121.263195},
pmid = {35649652},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.121.263195}
}
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