Fast Five Quiz: Test Your Knowledge on Key Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease

Laboratory tests can be performed to rule out other conditions that may cause cognitive impairment. Current recommendations from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) include measurement of the cobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) level and thyroid function testing.

AAN guidelines also state that structural neuroimaging (ie, CT scan or MRI of the brain) is appropriate to detect lesions which may result in cognitive impairment. Additional investigations are performed at the discretion of the physician and are tailored to the individual patient.

Initial test results that require further workup include:

• Abnormalities in complete blood cell count and cobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) levels, to rule out hematologic disease

• Abnormalities in liver enzyme levels, to rule out hepatic disease

• Abnormalities in thyroid-stimulating hormone levels, to rule out thyroid disease

• Abnormalities in the rapid plasma reagin test, to rule out syphilis

• Abnormalities in HIV serology and/or polymerase chain reaction assay, to rule out HIV/AIDS

• Abnormalities in paraneoplastic antibodies, to rule out autoimmune encephalitis

• Abnormalities in cerebrospinal fluid proteins tau, P-tau, and 14-3-3, to rule out Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

CSF measurement of tau and beta-amyloid is rarely part of the diagnostic workup for Alzheimer's disease, except in the research setting; however, this may change in the future with the development of therapies to slow the rate of progression of Alzheimer's disease.

In clinical research studies, atrophy of the hippocampi (structures important in mediating memory processes) on coronal MRI is considered a valid biomarker of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology. Nonetheless, measurement of hippocampal volume is not used in routine clinical care in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Brain scanning with SPECT or PET is not recommended or typically used for the routine workup of patients with typical presentations of Alzheimer's disease. These modalities may be useful in atypical cases or when a form of frontotemporal dementia is a more likely diagnosis.

Learn more about the workup of Alzheimer's disease.

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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Fast Five Quiz: Test Your Knowledge on Key Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease - Medscape - Feb 09, 2023.