The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) have developed an amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) model for predicting the mild cognitive impairment in patients.

The research, led by Professor Seo Sang-won at Samsung Medical Center and Professor Kim Si-eun at Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital, developed a simple method for predicting the positive rate of individual amyloid PET by the presence of the Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE ε4) alleles and neuropsychological tests in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

The predictive model has a smooth and simple application in the clinical field.

“The results of this study are beneficial in predicting the positive rate of amyloid PET in patients with mild cognitive impairment and can help reduce medical costs by predicting the positive rate of high-cost amyloid PET test and screening progress,” the agency said.

The amyloid PET test is a dementia imaging test that can image beta-amyloid in the brain. The test is useful for predicting the risk of mild cognitive impairment converting into dementia. However, as the test costs 1 million to 1.5 million won ($885 to $1,320), it is difficult to recommend to patients who have not yet developed dementia, the developers said.

The predictive model uses three risk factors -- the presence of APOE ε4 allele, clinical dementia rating scale sum of boxes (CDR-SOB) and pattern of memory impairment – and can predict the positivity of amyloid PET test with 79 percent accuracy.

“The development of the model is important to make a prediction model of amyloid PET positivity applicable to individual patients,” Professor Seo said. “The model will be useful for medical treatment and research as we can select patients who are highly predictive of amyloid PET positivity.”

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease published the results of the study.

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