RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 18F-FDG PET and Perfusion SPECT in the Diagnosis of Alzheimer and Lewy Body Dementias JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 1959 OP 1965 DO 10.2967/jnumed.114.143347 VO 55 IS 12 A1 O’Brien, John T. A1 Firbank, Michael J. A1 Davison, Christopher A1 Barnett, Nicky A1 Bamford, Claire A1 Donaldson, Cam A1 Olsen, Kirsty A1 Herholz, Karl A1 Williams, David A1 Lloyd, Jim YR 2014 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/55/12/1959.abstract AB Brain imaging with glucose (18F-FDG) PET or blood flow (hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime) SPECT is widely used for the differential diagnosis of dementia, though direct comparisons to clearly establish superiority of one method have not been undertaken. Methods: Subjects with Alzheimer disease (AD; n = 38) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB; n = 30) and controls (n = 30) underwent 18F-FDG PET and SPECT in balanced order. The main outcome measure was area under the curve (AUC) of receiver-operating-characteristic analysis of visual scan rating. Results: Consensus diagnosis with 18F-FDG PET was superior to SPECT for both dementia vs. no-dementia (AUC = 0.93 vs. 0.72, P = 0.001) and AD vs. DLB (AUC = 0.80 vs. 0.58, P = 0.005) comparisons. The sensitivity and specificity for dementia/no-dementia was 85% and 90%, respectively, for 18F-FDG PET and 71% and 70%, respectively, for SPECT. Conclusion: 18F-FDG PET was significantly superior to blood flow SPECT. We recommend 18F-FDG PET be performed instead of perfusion SPECT for the differential diagnosis of degenerative dementia if functional imaging is indicated.