The new screening method accurately determines the type of dementia
Last reviewed: 28.11.2021
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A new method of magnetic resonance imaging will help doctors to quickly determine what exactly the patient is sick, Alzheimer's disease or another kind of dementia.
Alzheimer's disease and fronto-temporal lobar degeneration are dementia, they have similar symptoms, but the main pathological process is different.
Scientists say that it is possible to establish quite precisely what the patient is sick without using invasive tests, such as spinal puncture. During this procedure, between the two vertebrae in the lumbar part of the back, a thin, hollow needle is inserted and thus the cerebrospinal fluid is collected. Invasive tests help to determine quite precisely what the patient is sick of, Alzheimer's disease or fronto-temporal lobar degeneration, but patients consider these procedures unpleasant, and while doctors persuade patients to still agree to such a method of diagnosis, the time goes and the treatment is delayed.
In addition, similar symptoms of disease also cause difficulties in diagnosis and, therefore, sometimes there are problems with the precise definition of the disease.
In a study of scientists, 185 people took part, who were diagnosed with one of the neurodegenerative diseases, which were mentioned above. But in order to finally determine what exactly the patient was sick, a spinal puncture and a large-resolution magnetic resonance imaging tomography were required.
See also: Dementia in Alzheimer's disease
In 32 patients out of 185, an accurate diagnosis was made using an invasive intervention that helped determine the genetic mutation. In addition to this method of diagnosis, specialists also used magnetic resonance imaging to confirm the results of the first test. The results were completely agreed, both methods perfectly coped with the task.
Both diagnostic methods helped to detect two biomarkers of these diseases in the cerebrospinal fluid. One of them is beta-amyloid, which is a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease, and the second is tau protein, which indicates the disease of frontotemporal lobar degeneration.
The author of the study, Corey McMillan, MD from the University of Pennsylvania, said that using a new diagnostic method, it is possible to identify any borderline cases.
"The new screening method is very important, because the methods of treatment are aimed at the main abnormal proteins. That is why it is so important to know what exactly the patient is sick and what methods of treatment should be used, "comments Dr. McMillan. "In addition, the new magnetic resonance imaging method can be used as a diagnostic tool for any borderline cases, and it can also be useful in clinical trials in which magnetic resonance imaging is important for repeated monitoring of these biomarkers over a long period of time."