Radiopharmaceutical imaging of neurodegenerative diseases

Abstract

Methods for simultaneously detecting dementia or cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) and Vascular Dementia (VaD) in a patient using dual or multiple radiopharmaceutical probes are provided herein.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for detecting or ruling out multiple neurodegenerative diseased states or pathologic processes in a patient comprising:
 administering an effective amount of  18 F-AV-45 to a patient;   acquiring an image to detect the presence or absence of the β-amyloid plaque in the cortical regions of the brain of the patient;   administering an effective amount of  18 FDG;   acquiring an image to detect metabolic activity of the brain of the patient;   detecting the presence or absence of β-amyloid plaque in the brain of the patient; and   detecting the presence or absence of the metabolic activity in the brain of the patient.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the effective amount of  18 F-AV-45 comprises from about 0.1 to about 20 mCi. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the effective amount of  18 F-AV-45 comprises about 10 mCi. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the β-amyloid plaque is associated with at least one of dementia, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Vascular Dementia (VaD), and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metabolic activity is associated with at least one of dementia, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Vascular Dementia (VaD), and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of administering  18 F-AV-45 and the step of administering the  18 FDG are performed concurrently. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of acquiring an image to detect the presence or absence of the β-amyloid plaque in the cortical regions of the brain of the patient and the step of acquiring an image to detect metabolic activity of the brain of the patient are performed concurrently. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of acquiring an image to detect the presence or absence of the β-amyloid plaque in the cortical regions of the brain of the patient and the step of acquiring an image to detect metabolic activity of the brain of the patient are performed sequentially. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps of acquiring images comprise positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging, PET with concurrent computed tomography imaging (PET/CT), PET with concurrent magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI), SPECT with concurrent CT imaging (SPECT/CT), or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of normalizing the image intensity of the acquired images to the cerebellum of the brain of the patient. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps of detecting the first diseased state or pathologic process and detecting the second diseased state or pathologic process are performed sequentially. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps of detecting the first diseased state or pathologic process and detecting the second diseased state or pathologic process are performed concurrently.