In people who have undergone standard assessment for dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), further investigations should only be used if clarifying dementia subtype would change patient management. Based on an updated review of the evidence, either perfusion SPECT (single-photon emission CT) or FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography) should be considered as a further investigation for clarifying dementia subtype in people with suspected Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This finding supports the SIGN (2023) and NICE (2018) recommendations.

Taking into account developments in diagnosis and treatments, future plans for the PET-CT service in NHSScotland should consider the provision of dementia imaging. This would help to ensure equity of access to imaging for people undergoing assessment for dementia across the UK.

NHSScotland is required to consider the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) recommendations.