Relation of Beta-amyloid Deposition to Temporal Lobe-focused Dementias

描述（由申请人提供）：如果一种痴呆症可以治疗，而另一种痴呆症不能治疗，患者和护理人员渴望诊断的确定性，因为获得明确的答案可以改变他们生活的长度和质量。然而，当70岁以上的患者出现额颞叶痴呆症的症状-人格改变和行为障碍-沿着与阿尔茨海默病相关的早期记忆丧失时，诊断仍然难以确定，使医生，患者和家庭不确定适当的行动方案。多伦多大学的临床科学家希望改变这种状况。阿尔茨海默病（AD）的疾病调节剂可能会比额颞叶痴呆（FTD）患者更早获得。β-淀粉样蛋白放射性示踪剂是一种神经成像技术，可以检测大脑中异常淀粉样蛋白聚集的存在，从而提高诊断的可靠性，是本十年来最有前途的发展之一。这项研究将使用脑淀粉样蛋白PET成像来确定迟发性FTD病例是否具有AD病理学。它也将帮助临床医生了解未来抗淀粉样蛋白干预在额颞叶痴呆治疗中是否有作用。拟议的分析借鉴了罗特曼研究所（Rotman Research Institute）研究人员之间的合作优势，罗特曼研究所在FTD临床研究方面拥有良好的记录，以及成瘾和心理健康中心的老年心理健康项目和PET成像中心。如果收到资金，CAMH将为一半的受试者样本提供扫描，从而增加赠款的价值并完成拟议的方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): If treatment is available for one dementia and not another, patients and caregivers yearn for diagnostic certainty, because obtaining definitive answers can alter the length and quality of their lives. However, when patients over age 70 present with symptoms of frontotemporal dementia - personality change and behavioral disturbance - along with the early memory loss associated with Alzheimer's Disease, diagnosis can remain elusive, leaving doctors, patients and families uncertain of the appropriate course of action. Clinician-Scientists at the University of Toronto want to change this. Disease-modifying agents for Alzheimer's disease (AD) will likely be available sooner than for those with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The beta-amyloid radiotracer - a neuroimaging technique that detects the presence of abnormal amyloid collections in the brain and therefore enhances diagnostic assurance - is one of the most promising developments of this decade. This study would use amyloid PET imaging of the brain to determine if cases of late-onset FTD bear AD pathology. It also will help clinicians understand if there is a role for future anti-amyloid interventions in the treatment of frontotemporal dementias. The proposed analysis draws on the strength of collaboration among investigators from the Rotman Research Institute, who have a proven track record in clinical research on FTD, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's Geriatric Mental Health Program and PET Imaging Centre. If funding is received, CAMH will provide scanning for half of the sample of subjects, thus increasing the value of the grant and completing the proposed protocol.