Guideline Video

Guideline Resources

  • Title: Use of Blood-Based Biomarkers in the Diagnostic Workup of Suspected Alzheimer's Disease Within Specialized Care Settings
  • Society:  Alzheimer’s Association (ALZ)
  • Publish Date: July 29, 2025
  • Summary
  • Full-text

Video Transcription

Today we’ll be going over The Alzheimer’s Association’s newest guideline on Use of Blood-Based Biomarkers (BBMs) in the Diagnostic Workup of Suspected Alzheimer's Disease Within Specialized Care Settings.

The guideline focuses on individuals with objective cognitive impairment, including those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, who are undergoing evaluation by providers trained and experienced in memory disorders, where AD is the suspected underlying etiology.

There are 2 recommendations and 1 good practice statement, as well as 5 clinical scenarios where a BBM test may not be appropriate. Let's get started with the recommendation.

The first recommendation states, In patients with objective cognitive impairment presenting for specialized memory-care, the guideline suggests using a high-sensitivity BBM test as a triaging test in the diagnostic workup of AD. 

Then the second says, In patients with objective cognitive impairment presenting for specialized memory-care, the guideline suggests using a high-sensitivity and high-specificity BBM test as a confirmatory test in the diagnostic workup of AD. 

The good practice statement says

A BBM test should not be obtained before a comprehensive clinical evaluation by a healthcare professional, and test results should always be interpreted within the clinical context. The panel urges clinicians to consider the pretest probability of AD pathology for each patient when deciding whether or not to use a BBM test.

For the following 5 clinical scenarios, a BBM test may not be appropriate or should be interpreted with extra caution:

  1. Patients with obvious modifiable or temporary conditions that are likely to account for the patient's cognitive impairment.
  2. Patients with limited life expectancy, as the clinical significance and prognosis of AD pathology are not well-defined in these populations.
  3. Patients with a history of conditions that can affect the brain and that may impact levels of a given BBM in ways that have not been well-studied.
  4. Patients with medical conditions that may affect the levels of a given BBM.
  5. Patients taking certain medications that may impact levels of a given BBM.

And there you have it. Make sure to check out the full guideline from The Alzheimer’s Association and other related clinical decision support tools at guidelinecentral.com.

Copyright © 2025 Guideline Central, all rights reserved.