Could tau-PET imaging contribute to a better understanding of the different patterns of clinical progression in Alzheimer's disease? A 2-year longitudinal study

This 2-year longitudinal PET study investigated the progression of [18F]-flortaucipir binding and cortical atrophy in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and their relationship with cognitive decline. Twenty-seven AD patients and twelve amyloid-negative controls underwent neuropsychological assessments, brain MRI, and [18F]-flortaucipir PET imaging at baseline and annually for two years. Results showed varied tau SUVr progression patterns depending on initial temporoparietal tau load. High-Tau1 patients exhibited frontal SUVr increases, temporoparietal decreases, and rapid clinical decline, while low-Tau1 patients showed increases across all regions and slower decline. Cognitive decline correlated strongly with cortical atrophy but weakly with SUVr progression. Tau-PET could identify patients with more aggressive clinical courses.

Julien Lagarde, Pauline Olivieri, Matteo Tonietto, Sébastian Rodrigo, Philippe Gervais, Fabien Caillé, Martin Moussion, Michel Bottlaender, Marie Sarazin