Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Gemma Roberts, Dr James LloydORCiD, Dr George Petrides, Dr Paul Donaghy, Dr Joseph Kane, Dr Rory Durcan, Dr Sarah Lawley, Dr Andrew SimsORCiD, Professor John-Paul TaylorORCiD, Professor John O'Brien, Professor Alan ThomasORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Springer Japan KK, 2019.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
Objective: I-123-2β-Carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)nortropane (FP-CIT) imaging is an established biomarker used in the diagnosis of Lewy body disease. Images are often reported with the aid of striatal binding ratios (SBRs), comparing uptake to a normal database via Z scores. It is well-known that SBRs are age-dependent. However, previous studies cover wide age ranges between 20 and 80 years, rather than focusing on older adults. Typically a linear relationship is reported, but some authors have suggested that SBRs do not decline as rapidly in old age. Commercial software packages usually adjust the SBR Z score to attempt to compensate for age-related decline, but the model used varies. Ensuring age-correction is appropriate for older adults is important, given that the majority of patients referred for FP-CIT scans are aged over60 years. We examined the relationship of SBR with age in older adults and the effect of age correction using research scans from 123 adults over 60 years of age. Methods Twenty-nine healthy older adults and twenty-three with MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease wereincluded as controls, i.e. individuals with no evidence of Lewy body disease. Their ages ranged from 60 - 92 years (mean 76; SD 7.9)). SBRs and Z scores were calculated using BRASS (HermesMedical) and DaTQUANT (GE Healthcare). SBRs were plotted against age and linear mixed effects models applied. We tested the effect of removing age-correction in BRASS using an independent dataset of 71 older adults with dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Results The slopes of the linear fits between SBR and age per year were -0.007 (p=0.30) with BRASS and-0.004 (p=0.35) with DaTQUANT. The slopes are smaller than reported in the literature and show no statistically significant difference from zero. Switching age correction off in BRASS in the test subjects reduced Z scores by approximately 1standard deviation at 80 years of age. Conclusion We found no statistically significant age-related decline in SBR in adults over 60 years of agewithout Lewy body disease. Commercial software packages that apply a fixed rate of age correction may be overcorrecting for age in older adults, which could contribute to misdiagnosis.
Author(s): Roberts G, Lloyd JJ, Petrides GS, Donaghy PC, Kane JPM, Durcan R, Lawley S, Howe K, Sims AJ, Taylor JP, O'Brien JT, Thomas AJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Annals of Nuclear Medicine
Year: 2019
Volume: 33
Issue: 6
Pages: 434-443
Print publication date: 01/06/2019
Online publication date: 21/03/2019
Acceptance date: 15/03/2019
Date deposited: 19/03/2019
ISSN (print): 0914-7187
ISSN (electronic): 1864-6433
Publisher: Springer Japan KK
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-019-01352-x
DOI: 10.1007/s12149-019-01352-x
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
