Study of Retinal Findings in People With Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer s Disease Enrolled in 09-M-0198

Objective: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and Alzheimer s disease (AD) are both neurodegenerative diseases which affect a similar demographic of patients. Beyond age being a common risk factor for both diseases, an important common characteristic is a similarity in pathology findings, specifically, the presence of amyloid (beta) (A(beta)) in the senile plaques of the AD brain and in the drusen of AMD patients. As both of these diseases are the cause of significant morbidity of the quickly growing aging population, understanding the pathogenesis of both and identification of any overlapping pathophysiology will lead to a better understanding of each disease. The objective of this study is to investigate the presence of AMD and other neurodegenerative lesions and characterize retinal findings in a group of participants with well-phenotyped AD. Study Population: Up to 150 participants (100 symptomatic, 50 controls) will be recruited from patients already enrolled and participating in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study, 09-M-0198, Screening and Evaluation of Patients with Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer s Disease. Design: This is a single center, cross-sectional, observational study that will include a single eye clinic visit with eye exam, visual acuity, photography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) testing. Outcome Measures: The primary outcome is the presence of AMD or other retinal findings in patients diagnosed with AD. Secondary outcomes will include autofluorescence imaging, spectral domain OCT and visual acuity.