Amyvid is the first and only FDA-approved diagnostic PET tracer for imaging beta amyloid plaques in the living brain

Tampa, FL – (Sept. 5, 2012) The USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute’s Eric Pfeiffer Imaging Center is one of only a limited number of PET imaging sites in Florida to offer Amyvid brain imaging.  Amyvid is a diagnostic PET (positron emission tomography) tracer to detect the presence or absence in the brain of significant amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, while patients are still alive.  The radiotracer allows physicians to see evidence of amyloid plaques in patients with cognitive impairment when providing clinical evaluation for Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of cognitive decline.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of many possible causes of dementia or cognitive impairment. Patients with symptoms of cognitive impairment can be misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and up to one in five patients without AD pathology upon autopsy are clinically diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease. In conjunction with clinical assessment, an imaging test or brain scan could detect the presence of neuritic, beta-amyloid plaques in the living brain.

An Amyvid PET scan is intended for use in adult patients with early stage dementia or memory problems. Amyvid is injected into the blood stream, where it binds to amyloid plaques in the living brain. An Amyvid PET scan is not a covered service under Medicare. For questions on payment and scheduling for Amyvid PET imaging, call (813) 396-0728.

 For more information about Amyvid, visit www.amyvid.com

 -USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.

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