Korczyn: Professor Roses, first, does ApoE genotype relate to cognitive decline or pathological change in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD)? They are certainly closely linked but they are not identical, because patients can develop severe pathological alterations without being demented. Second, because the positive predictive value is 100%, theoretically, a patient with ApoE4 cannot develop any other dementing disease.

Workshop 6 discussed peripheral markers from the perspective of the medical profession as a whole. We have considered each of the assessment methods and the limitations and problems associated with them, and graded them according to their usefulness, comprehensiveness, and cultural specificity.

Forette: I was just trying to highlight that it is dangerous to state that computed tomographic (CT) scans are not an essential tool for the specialist to rule out conditions other than Alzheimer's disease.

Burns: This meeting had a number of aims, one being to review and assimilate current knowledge about Alzheimer's disease (AD), with particular reference to primary care. The introduction of guidelines for GPs would perhaps be much better implemented at a national or even regional level.