Alzheimer's screening
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Results of the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Aging (OPTIMA) study, a joint effort between Bristol-Myers Squibb and Oxford University, show that use of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with Amersham's Ceretec and computed tomography detected Alzheimer's disease "in 90% of cases with a 97% specificity," the university reports May 25. Cortical parietotemporal hypoperfusion shown by SPECT uncovered 95% of the study's 78 autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer's patients, with 87.5% specificity. X-ray CT measurements of medial temporal lobe atrophy alone detected 92.5% of cases with 93% specificity. Overall, "195 patients with dementia and 95 controls" are being followed