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. 2017 May 5;15:247–263. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.05.002

Table 3.

Summary of main studies providing mechanistic insights using amyloid PET imaging in CAA.

Study Topic Patient population [n; age (yrs ± SD)] Clinical presentation Image analysis Main results Comments
(Dierksen et al., 2010)a Microbleeds Probable CAA (n = 16; 64.0 ± 11.8) LICH (n = 9) DVR (cerebellum) Significant relationship between PiB retention and microbleeds location 7 pathology-confirmed CAA patients
(Ly et al., 2010a)a
Post-thrombolysis ICH		 HC (n = 15; 74)
ICH (n = 7; 77)
No ICH (n = 8; 77)		 Ischemic stroke treated with rt.-PA within 3 h DVR (cerebellum) Higher PiB binding in patients with vs those without ICH and vs HCs No symptomatic ICH studied.
Topography of ICH (within or remote from infarct) not assessed.
PiB not increased in simple haemorrhagic transformation.
(Gurol et al., 2012) Prediction of new ICH Probable CAA (n = 11; 70.9 ± 8.6) LICH (n = 5)
Other (e.g., seizure, gait problems; n = 6)		 DVR (cerebellum) New CAA-related haemorrhages (CMBs or ICH) occur preferentially
at sites of increased amyloid deposition		 PiB uptake in a superior frontal/parasagittal aggregate ROI was predictive of the number of new haemorrhages.
(Dhollander et al., 2011)a cSS Probable CAA (n = 1; 76); possible CAA (n = 1; 72) cSS DVR PiB uptake significantly higher in the immediate vicinity of cSS –
(Na et al., 2015)a cSS Whole sample (n = 232; 72.2 ± 8.1)
1) AD (n = 90)
2) SVCI (n = 142)		 cSS (n = 12)
No cSS (n = 220)		 SUVr cSS present in both AD and SVCI, but never in PiB (−) patients, supporting the hypothesis that cSS reflects an amyloid rather than ischemic process
  • −

    SVCI patients with cSS very likely to be PiB +

  • −

    PiB + pattern in cSS not typical for CAA
(Ly et al., 2015)a cSAH Probable CAA, n = 7 (n = 2 with supporting pathology) Non-aneurysmal cSAH Visual analysis of summed 40-70 min images 7/7 PiB + ‘consistent with CAA’ Case series of 7 patients; no comparison to healthy controls or AD patients. PiB PET performed 3–36 months after cSAH. Three pts. had LICH at follow-up: no clear topographical relationship with PiB cortical burden.
(Gurol et al., 2013)a WMH
  • 1)

    Probable CAA (n = 42, 68 ± 10)

  • 2)

    AD (n = 43, 74 ± 7.4)

  • 3)

    3) HC (n = 50, 73.3 ± 7)

 LICH (n = 23)
Other (n = 19)		 DVR (cerebellum) Global PiB retention and WMH showed strong correlation (rho = 0.52, p < 0.001) in the CAA group but not in HC or AD No significant PiB-WMH correlation in AD and HCs.
(Charidimou et al., 2015a)a CSO-PVS
  • 1)

    Probable CAA (n = 11; 71)

  • 1)

    2) HC (n = 20; 59.5); (age < 60, n = 10; age > 60, n = 10)

 LICH DVR
PIB retention higher in high vs low CSO-PVS degree (p = 0.0007).		 Whole cortex PiB retention associated with CSO-PVS degree both as continuous (p = 0.040) and dichotomous variable p = 0.002). Finding present both in the whole sample (HC + CAA) and in CAA only. No significant relationship between PiB and basal ganglia PVS.
(Carmona-Iragui et al., 2016)b CAA-ri Probable CAA-ri (n = 4); two patients only underwent PET CAA-ri SUVr (visual assessment) Both patients PiB + PET performed 13–19 months after corticosteroids. Pre-treatment PET not obtained. No comparison to HCs or AD. Lower PiB uptake in previously edematous areas.
(Reijmer et al., 2015)a Cognitive impairment Probable CAA (n = 29) LICH (n = 17); other (n = 21) DVR (cerebellum) Lower global network efficiency related to higher cortical PiB uptake (p = 0.004) Structural brain network studied with MRI (DTI). CAA patients with predominantly posterior PiB retention showed lower connection strength in posterior nodes.

CAA: cerebral amyloid angiopathy; HC: healthy control; ICH: intracerebral haemorrhage; L: lobar; rt.-PA: recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator; WMH: white matter hyperintensities; CSO-PVS: centrum semiovale perivascular spaces; cSS: cortical superficial siderosis; AD = Alzheimer disease; SVCI: subcortical vascular cognitive impairment; CAA-ri: cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation; pts.: patients; PiB + and PiB −: PiB positive and PiB negative PET scan, respectively; cSAH: convexity subarachnoid haemorrhage; DTI: diffusion tensor imaging.

a

PiB.

b

Florbetapir.