Amyloid scanning for dementia study opens patient enrollment, recruitment of PET facilities

The Imaging Dementia – Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) Study is now accepting enrollment of 18,488 Medicare patients to determine the clinical value of brain positron emission tomography (PET) scans in detecting brain amyloid accumulation of patients experiencing mild cognitive impairment or dementia of uncertain cause. Radiology facilities with PET scanners interested in participating in the study are also invited to apply. Approximately 200 facilities throughout the United States are expected to participate.

Patients referred by primary care and specialist physicians will be assigned into either a subgroup to study progressive, unexplained mild cognitive impairment or dementia of uncertain cause. Patients will be eligible if they have had structural brain imaging with CT or MRI, a battery of laboratory tests, and diagnostic uncertainty after a comprehensive clinical evaluation. They will undergo an amyloid PET scan and be followed for disease progression.

This observational, open-label longitudinal cohort study was developed in response to the 2013 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Coverage Decision in which CMS questioned the ability of PET amyloid imaging to lead to improved health outcomes and did not offer reimbursement. Subsequently, the Alzheimer’s Association and the Society of Nuclear Medicien and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) developed appropriate use criteria for brain amyloid PET scans. These criteria indicate that amyloid PET should only be considered in patients with clear, measurable, cognitive deficits when there is substantial diagnostic uncertainty after a comprehensive evaluation by a dementia specialist.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) are managing the study, under the leadership of the Alzheimer’s Association. Gil D. Rabinovici, M.D., associate professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco is the study chair.

Additional information about the study, including applying as a PET facility, is available at this website: www.ideas-study.org