PILOT COLLABORATIVE PET IMAGING TRIAL

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a brain disease that causes progressive worsening of behavior and thinking. Currently it is difficult to diagnose FTD accurately because symptoms overlap with other illnesses such as Alzheimer s disease (AD) and depression. It is important to be able to distinguish these conditions in order to provide the most appropriate counseling and treatment. This study investigates whether a type of brain scan called positron emission tomography (PET) can improve a physician s ability to diagnose FTD. This study will recruit patients who come to the University of Michigan Cognitive Disorders Clinic with symptoms of FTD. Each patient will have a study partner. Study partners must be 18 years or older, while patients will be adults 40 years or older. All subjects may be of any gender or race. Patients will have 4 outpatient study visits and a PET scan. The 4 study visits will occur over 18 months. At each research visit, patients will complete tests of thinking and behavior and be examined by a study physician. The PET scan involves inserting an intravenous catheter, receiving a small dose of a radiopharmaceutical, and lying on a table in the PET scanner for 30 minutes. Study partners will complete 2 surveys and accompany patients to all study visits. In addition, medical records from other evaluations will become part of study records.