On 27 July, Dr Gil Rabinovici from the University of California in San Francisco (US) gave a talk at the virtual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. His talk was entitled “Association Between Amyloid PET and Health Outcomes: the IDEAS Study”. He presented the top-line results of the second phase of the IDEAS study. The aim of the study is to determine the clinical usefulness on patient-oriented outcomes of a brain positron emission tomography (PET) scan that detects amyloid plaques, a core feature of Alzheimer’s disease. The first phase of the IDEAS study reported that amyloid PET scans changed the treatment plans in two-thirds of the cases of the 11,409 people who underwent amyloid scans.
First results of the second phase of the study showed that amyloid PET scans were associated with a 4.5% relative reduction in hospitalisations in the year after the scan compared to the control group. The study missed the pre-specified endpoint as it did not meet the 10% reduction goal. The difference in hospitalisations was driven by people with dementia and not those with mild cognitive impairment. In addition, it was reported that both people with dementia and mild cognitive impairment who had a positive amyloid scan were 22% less likely to be hospitalised in the next year than those with negative scans. Researchers are still analysing the data.
Dr Gil Rabinovici concluded his talk by presenting the next IDEAS study that will recruit a diverse cohort including at least 2,000 blacks and 2,000 Latinos among the 7,000 planned participants. The study is expecting to start this fall.
