Implications of Newly Revised Alzheimer Disease Diagnostic and Staging Criteria: Clifford R. Jack Jr., MD

WATCH TIME: 6 minutes

"The purpose was not to offer specific clinical practice guidelines...but rather to inform how people in the field should think about the diagnosis of the disease and staging of the disease from a broad scientific perspective."

Characterizing diseases biologically instead of syndromic presentation has been known as the standard in medicine and has become more of unified concept common to several neurodegenerative diseases besides Alzheimer disease (AD). In 2011, the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association convened 3 separate committee work groups to create recommendations for the diagnosis and characterization of AD. Following that, in 2012 and 2018, both organizations reconvened to establish suggestions for diagnostic criteria for AD.

Recently, the committee presented updates to the 2018 research framework in response to several recent developments in a paper published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.^1,2 The paper aimed to present objective criteria for diagnosis and staging AD, which incorporated latest advances in biomarkers, to serve as a bridge between research and clinical care. Conducted by lead author Clifford R. Jack Jr., MD, and colleagues, the proposed criteria are intended to serve as general principles to inform diagnosis and staging of AD that reflect current the science.

Jack, a neuroradiologist at Mayo Clinic, recently sat down with NeurologyLive^® in an interview to discuss the main objectives for revising such guidelines. He also talked about the differences between the updated guidelines and the previous renditions, and the role emerging plasma biomarkers played in the publication. Moreover, Jack spoke about the key distinctions between the newly published guidelines and clinical practice guidelines expected next year.

REFERENCES
1. Jack CR Jr, Andrews JS, Beach TG, et al. Revised criteria for diagnosis and staging of Alzheimer's disease: Alzheimer's Association Workgroup. Alzheimers Dement. Published online June 27, 2024. doi:10.1002/alz.13859
2. Alzheimer's Association Workgroup Publishes Biology-Based Criteria for Diagnosis and Staging of Alzheimer's Disease. News Release. Alzheimer's Association. Published June 27, 2024. Accessed July 17, 2024. https://www.alz.org/news/2024/revised-alzheimers-diagnostic-staging-criteria