| خلاصه مقاله | From the time German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer introduced Alzheimer's Disease (AD) at the 37th Meeting of South-West German Psychiatrists in Tubingen on November 3, 1906, it was a clinicopathological concept(1, 2). But because pathological examination in viable patients was impossible, the typical multidomain amnestic type presentation of the disease was used as the sole way to diagnose AD without consideration of its pathological aspect. However, this method is neither sensitive nor specific for diagnosing AD(3-5).
It wasn't until 2011 that a significant shift occurred in the diagnostic methods for Alzheimer's. Disease. Up until then, clinical diagnostic criteria were the only available method. However, the 2011 NIA-AA guidelines marked a turning point, introducing biomarkers as a new tool for diagnosing AD(6).
In 2018, NIA-AA revised the 2011 guidelines and introduced a biomarker profile named ATN system and a new research framework for AD(7).
In October 2023, the Alzheimer Association workgroup, led by Dr. Clifford in the Alzheimer's Research Center at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, unveiled a draft of the proposed criteria for diagnosing and staging AD(8).
They proposed a new biological staging by amyloid and tau PET and an Integrated biological and clinical staging, a potential game-changer in our understanding of ongoing pathologies in demented patients. This could pave the way for more accurate and early diagnosis, offering hope for better management and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease(8).
Key Words: Alzheimer's Disease, Diagnostic Criteria, Biological Staging, Integrated Staging, Alzheimer Association, National Institute on Aging |