The Role of Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test in Predicting [ ¹⁸ F]Florbetaben PET Results in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) is a reliable cognitive marker for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the identification of neuropsychological tests sensitive to the early signs of AD pathology is crucial both in research and clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to ascertain the ability of FCSRT in predicting the amyloid load as determined from amyloid PET imaging (Amy-PET) in patients with cognitive disorders. METHODS: For our purpose, 79 patients (71 MCI, 8 mild dementia) underwent a complete workup for dementia, including the FCSRT assessment and a [18F]florbetaben PET scan. FCSRT subitem scores were used as predictors in different binomial regression models. RESULTS: Immediate free recall and delayed free recall were the best predictors overall in the whole sample; whereas in patients <76 years, all models further improved with immediate total recall (ITR) and Index of Sensitivity of Cueing (ISC) resulting the most accurate in anticipating Amy-PET results, with a likelihood of being Amy-PET positive greater than 85% for ITR and ISC scores of less than 25 and 0.5, respectively. CONCLUSION: FCSRT proved itself to be a valid tool in dementia diagnosis, also being able to correlate with amyloid pathology. The possibility to predict Amy-PET results through a simple and reliable neuropsychological test might be helpful for clinicians in the dementia field, adding value to a paper and pencil tool compared to most costly biomarkers.