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Subjective cognitive decline and stage 2 of Alzheimer disease in patients from memory centers.

Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association

Authors: Frank Jessen, Steffen Wolfsgruber, Luca Kleineindam, Annika Spottke, Slawek Altenstein, Claudia Bartels, Moritz Berger, Frederic Brosseron, Marcel Daamen, Martin Dichgans, Laura Dobisch, Michael Ewers, Friederike Fenski, Klaus Fliessbach, Silka D Freiesleben, Wenzel Glanz, Doreen Görß, Selim Gürsel, Daniel Janowitz, Ingo Kilimann, Xenia Kobeleva, Andrea Lohse, Franziska Maier, Coraline Metzger, Matthias Munk, Lukas Preis, Carolin Sanzenbacher, Eike Spruth, Boris Rauchmann, Ruth Vukovich, Renat Yakupov, Anne-Sophie Weyrauch, Gabriel Ziegler, Matthias Schmid, Christoph Laske, Robert Perneczky, Anja Schneider, Jens Wiltfang, Stefan Teipel, Katharina Bürger, Josef Priller, Oliver Peters, Alfredo Ramirez, Henning Boecker, Michael T Heneka, Michael Wagner, Emrah Düzel

INTRODUCTION: It is uncertain whether subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in individuals who seek medical help serves the identification of the initial symptomatic stage 2 of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum.

METHODS: Cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the multicenter, memory clinic-based DELCODE study.

RESULTS: The SCD group showed slightly worse cognition as well as more subtle functional and behavioral symptoms than the control group (CO). SCD-A+ cases (39.3% of all SCD) showed greater hippocampal atrophy, lower cognitive and functional performance, and more behavioral symptoms than CO-A+. Amyloid concentration in the CSF had a greater effect on longitudinal cognitive decline in SCD than in the CO group.

DISCUSSION: Our data suggests that SCD serves the identification of stage 2 of the AD continuum and that stage 2, operationalized as SCD-A+, is associated with subtle, but extended impact of AD pathology in terms of neurodegeneration, symptoms and clinical progression.

© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.

PMID: 35451563

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