Eyes Might ID Preclinical Alzheimer's

According to researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease may be identifiable through optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography, reports MedPage Today . Experts note that there is evidence of retinal changes in people with Alzheimer's disease. To discover if there is a link, researchers studied 30 people who were cognitively normal and had either positron emission tomography or cerebrospinal fluid analysis to assess Alzheimer's disease. Each participant underwent a neuro-ophthalmic examination and OCT angiography. This allowed scientists to examine retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, ganglion cell layer thickness, foveal thickness, vascular density, macular volume, and data about the foveal avascular zone. They found that 16 participants were biomarker-negative for Alzheimer's disease, while 14 were biomarker-positive and were classified as having preclinical Alzheimer's. The biomarker-positive group had inner foveal thinning. Biomarker-positive participants also had an enlarged foveal avascular zone. Researchers say this could mean Alzheimer's disease could be diagnosed in the preclinical stage using less invasive biomarkers.