PET/MRI IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: ADVANCES IN THE INTEGRATED PET/MRI SYSTEM

Ye Zhu, Yun Yang^*, Xinhui Qu, Ping Yang, Lingxia Jiang, Min He

Neurology Department, Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanchang University, Nanchang 330000, Jiangxi, China

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of senile dementia in clinical practice, and the incidence has increased year by year, imposing significant economic burden on the society. 

Materials and methods: With the gradual deepening of AD's study, the diagnosis of early AD patients by analyzing imaging features can achieve the purpose of early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Imaging methods include multimodality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), such as structural magnetic resonance imaging, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, and diffusion tensor imaging, as well as positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, especially specific tracer amyloid and tau imaging, which are of great value in early clinical diagnosis. 

Results: At present, functional MRI and PET are the main imaging techniques for the diagnosis of AD. Recent studies have shown that integrated PET/MRI can provide morphological, functional, and molecular level imaging information simultaneously, offering a new value for the early diagnosis and differential diagnosis of AD patients. 

Conclusion: The application of integrated PET/MRI, which can perform MRI and PET scans simultaneously, has unique advantages for pathogenesis and early AD diagnosis. This article reviews the current status and recent applications of PET/MRI in AD.