Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: recommendations of the Scientific Department of Cognitive Neurology and Aging of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology
Lucas Porcello Schilling, Márcio Luiz Figueredo Balthazar, Márcia Radanovic, Orestes Vicente Forlenza, Marcela Lima Silagi, Jerusa Smid, Breno José Alencar Pires Barbosa, Norberto Anízio Ferreira Frota, Leonardo Cruz de Souza, Francisco Assis Carvalho Vale, Paulo Caramelli, Paulo Henrique Ferreira Bertolucci, Márcia Lorena Fagundes Chaves, Sônia Maria Dozzi Brucki, Benito Pereira Damasceno, Ricardo Nitríni
Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper presents the consensus of the Scientific Department of Cognitive Neurology and Aging from the Brazilian Academy of Neurology on the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in Brazil. The authors conducted a literature review regarding clinical and research criteria for AD diagnosis and proposed protocols for use at primary, secondary, and tertiary care levels. Within this clinical scenario, the diagnostic criteria for typical and atypical AD are presented as well as clinical, cognitive, and functional assessment tools and complementary propaedeutics with laboratory and neuroimaging tests. The use of biomarkers is also discussed for both clinical diagnosis (in specific conditions) and research.