Assignment 8: Graphic Organizer #1

Annotated Bibliography Graphic Organizer

Name: Valery Prada-Brausin

Source (APA):

Page, J., Oza, U., Layton, K., & Padilla, C. (2017). Usefulness of positron emission

tomography to detect cerebral amyloid as a means to diagnose

neurodegenerative disease. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings,

30(3), 362-364.

Annotation:

The article begins by characterizing Alzheimer’s disease as in what defines it physically in a patient. Then the article goes only by relating how imaging machines such as MRI have the ability to show those physical characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease which thus means these imaging machines have the ability to diagnose this disease. The article those all the above again but for the disease Dementia. After establishing a foundation, the author presents a case study that demonstrates and supports their finding and claims. The case study is of a 68-year-old male with progressive memory loss. To diagnose this patient doctors used the traditional method of neuropsychological evaluation, but also used imagining technology is search of a more detailed examination. The use of MRI and Pet scan showed much more successful results. The MRI imaging “disclosed many punctate foci of signal dropout in a widespread distribution on susceptibility-weighted images, correlating with the presence of many chronic microhemorrhages.” The PET scan “demonstrated a widespread abnormal increase in radiotracer accumulation within the cortical gray matter resulting in loss of gray-white matter distinction”. The authors then write a discussion that reiterates the successful results MRI and PET imaging have had in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease. The authors also than discuss how this imaging technology not only has potential in the diagnosis of theses disease, but also in the treatment of these diseases. Drugs for AD therapy are being researched and due to the fact that these machines can detect these diseases in their early stages the development of these drugs could have significant results in curing these diseases.

Potential Quotes:

“With recent advances in imaging technology, we can not only image amyloid plaques in the brain parenchyma at an earlier stage of disease, but can also often correlate the presence of Alzheimer’s disease with cerebral amyloid angiopathy.”

“The primary means of diagnosing AD is currently neuropsychological evaluations ... a method that is neither sensitive nor specific. Recent advances, however, have made neuroimaging, including brain MRI and PET, a useful adjunct in differentiating dementia from normal sequelae”

“MRI … aid significantly in the detection of cerebral amyloid angiopathy(CAA)…”

“While amyloid plaques could previously be visualized only at autopsy… amyloid PET scan, allowed for the direct visualization of the overall burden and distribution pattern of amyloid plaques… in the brain”

“Amyloid PET imaging, particularly as part of multimodality neuroimaging approach is combination with MRI, is a valuable adjunct to standard neuropsychological testing in this context.

Assessment:

This is a scholarly reviewed article from Galileo meaning it has been studied and tested again to make sure what is being said through the article is supported. This source is credible as the authors are well educated scholars with MD degrees. Another reason this source is credible, the authors provides case reports as evidence to support their claims. Then their discussions are supported by the use of numerous well know and reliable references.

Reflection:

This article is a prime example of how the use of revolutionary technology in radiology significantly impacts all fields of medicine. Neurologist before the use of PET and MRI machines could only diagnose neurodegenerative diseases by means of neuropsychological evaluation. These evaluations would not give neurologist the ability to see patterns of how the brains of patients with this condition tend to look. The doctors just were able to see the physical signals patients began to develop. Now they are able to use these machines along with the evaluation to have a more elaborate diagnosis that shows reoccurring amyloid plaques.