The recent commercialisation of the first disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer's
disease emphasises the need for consensus recommendations on the rational use of biomarkers
to diagnose people with suspected neurocognitive disorders in memory clinics. Most
available recommendations and guidelines are either disease-centred or biomarker-centred.
A European multidisciplinary taskforce consisting of 22 experts from 11 European scientific
societies set out to define the first patient-centred diagnostic workflow that aims
to prioritise testing for available biomarkers in individuals attending memory clinics.
After an extensive literature review, we used a Delphi consensus procedure to identify
11 clinical syndromes, based on clinical history and examination, neuropsychology,
blood tests, structural imaging, and, in some cases, EEG. We recommend first-line
and, if needed, second-line testing for biomarkers according to the patient's clinical
profile and the results of previous biomarker findings. This diagnostic workflow will
promote consistency in the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders across European countries.
