Advances in Geriatrics

Review Article

CSF Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease: Impact on Disease Concept, Diagnosis, and Clinical Trial Design

Table 1

Comparison of new Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic criteria proposed by the International Work Group (IWG) and the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association (NIA-AA) working groups.


	IWG¹	NIA-AA²

Incorporates biomarkers in the diagnostic process?	Yes	Yes
Requires biomarker abnormalities?	Yes	No—supports diagnosis but is not required
Permits AD diagnosis in the presence of dementia symptoms?	Yes	Yes
Permits AD diagnosis in the absence of dementia symptoms?	No—“at risk” classification in the presence of biomarker positivity	Yes—refers to the pathologic process in the presence or absence of dementia symptoms
Considers etiological diagnosis for MCI?	Yes	Yes
Classification of MCI	Replaces the term MCI with “prodromal AD” (in the presence of biomarker positivity)	Retains the term “MCI”
Required cognitive impairments for MCI and/or prodromal AD	Objective impairment in memory	Objective or subjective impairment in memory and/or non-memory domains

Modified with permission from Morris et al., 2014 [17].
¹Dubois et al. 2010 [13].
²McKhann et al., 2011 [14]; Albert et al., 2011 [15]; Sperling et al., 2011 [16].