Utility of Easy Z-Score Imaging System-Assisted SPECT in Detecting Onset Age-Dependent Decreases in Cerebral Blood Flow in the Posterior Cingulate Cortex, Precuneus, and Parietal Lobe in Alzheimer's Disease with Amyloid Accumulation

Hiroshi Hayashi; Ryota Kobayashi; Shinobu Kawakatsu; Daichi Morioka; Koichi Otani

doi:10.1159/000507654

Utility of Easy Z-Score Imaging System-Assisted SPECT in Detecting Onset Age-Dependent Decreases in Cerebral Blood Flow in the Posterior Cingulate Cortex, Precuneus, and Parietal Lobe in Alzheimer's Disease with Amyloid Accumulation

Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2020 Jun 10;10(2):63-68. doi: 10.1159/000507654. eCollection 2020 May-Aug.

Authors

Hiroshi Hayashi¹, Ryota Kobayashi¹, Shinobu Kawakatsu², Daichi Morioka¹, Koichi Otani¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan.
² Department of Neuropsychiatry, Aizu Medical Center, Fukushima Medical University, Aizuwakamatsu, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Easy Z-score imaging system (eZIS)-assisted SPECT accurately detects decreases in cerebral blood flow in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), precuneus, and parietal lobe, the cerebral regions deeply implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several studies suggested onset age-dependent decreases in cerebral blood flow in these regions in AD, but these studies did not screen for amyloid accumulation, suggesting inclusion of non-AD patients in their subjects.

Objective: By applying eZIS-SPECT to patients with amyloid deposition, it was the aim of this study to clarify onset age-dependent decreases in cerebral blood flow in the regions critical to AD.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed eZIS-SPECT data on 34 AD patients with amyloid retention confirmed by ¹¹C-Pittsburgh compound B-PET. The subjects were divided into an early-onset group (n = 16) and a late-onset group (n = 18). The three indicators of the eZIS that had discriminated between AD patients and normal controls in previous studies were compared between the two groups.

Results: The mean values for the respective indicators were significantly higher in the early-onset group than in the late-onset group. Also, the proportion of patients with abnormalities in all indicators was significantly higher in the early-onset group (93.8%) than in the late-onset group (50.0%).

Conclusions: The present study, applying eZIS-SPECT to amyloid-positive AD patients, suggests that reduced cerebral blood flow in the PCC, precuneus, and parietal lobe is more pronounced in the early-onset type than in the late-onset type of the disease.

Keywords: 11C-Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography; Alzheimer's disease; Easy Z-score imaging system; Onset age; Single-photon emission computed tomography.