Journal of Nuclear Cardiology

BACKGROUND: LV geometry with shape index (SI) and eccentricity index (EI) measured by myocardial perfusion positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) may allow the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) adverse remodeling. This first study aims to explore the relationship of SI and EI values acquired by Nitrogen-13 ammonia PET/CT in patients with normal perfusion, ischemia, and myocardial infarction. And evaluate the correlations between the variables of LV geometry, and with the variables of LV function...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial flow reserve (MFR) by positron emission tomography (PET) is a validated measure of cardiovascular risk. Elevated resting rate pressure product (RPP = heart rate x systolic blood pressure) can cause high resting myocardial blood flow (MBF), resulting in reduced MFR despite normal/near-normal peak stress MBF. When resting MBF is high, it is not known if RPP-corrected MFR (MFRcorrected) helps reclassify CV risk. We aimed to study this question in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a powerful tool for the functional assessment of ischemia in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD). Given that the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value of MPI and post-test management are highly dependent on achieving an adequate stress vasodilatory response, it is critical to identify those who may not have adequately responded to vasodilator pharmacological stress agents such as adenosine, dipyridamole, and regadenoson. Caffeine, a potent inhibitor of the adenosine receptor, is a compound that can affect vasodilatory hemodynamics, result in false negative studies, and potentially alter management in cases of inaccurate test results...

BACKGROUND: The outcome of breast cancer (BrCa) women monitored by low-dose equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA) remains challenging to predict. AIM: This study aims to determine whether heart rate (HR)/blood pressure (BP) ratio-based indexes, previously confirmed to predict outcomes of various diseases, also predict BrCa-therapy-related cardiotoxicity and survival. METHODS: Predictors of cardiotoxicity and survival were determined among pre-therapy variables, including shock index ([SI HR/systolic BP) and age-adjusted SI (ASI), in a female BrCa cohort with normal baseline ERNA-left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)...

A key focus of cardiovascular medicine is the detection, treatment, and prevention of disease, with a move towards more personalized and patient-centred treatments. To achieve this goal, novel imaging approaches that allow for early and accurate detection of disease and risk stratification are needed. At present, the diagnosis, monitoring, and prognostication of thrombotic cardiovascular diseases are based on imaging techniques that measure changes in structural anatomy and biological function. Molecular imaging is emerging as a new tool for the non-invasive detection of biological processes, such as thrombosis, that can improve identification of these events above and beyond current imaging modalities...

Atherosclerosis involving vascular beds across the human body remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Coronary and peripheral artery disease which are almost universally a result of atherosclerotic plaque can manifest clinically as myocardial infarctions, ischemic stroke or acute lower limb ischemia. Beyond imaging myocardial perfusion and blood flow nuclear imaging has the potential to depict the activity of the processes which are directly implicated in the atherosclerotic plaque progression and rupture...

BACKGROUND: Myocardial inflammation and perfusion defects detected by 18 F-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) and Rubidium-82 positron emission tomography (PET) may be associated with ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in cardiac sarcoidosis (CS). The role of serial quantitative PET in determining the effect of treatment on myocardial inflammation and clinical outcomes is yet to be defined. METHODS: Newly diagnosed CS patients with active myocardial inflammation (maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) ≥ 2...

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The introduction of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in the mid 1970s represents an important technological milestone in the field of nuclear medicine. The technological advances since its initial introduction as a limited field of view scanner to image the brain, namely integrated PET with computed tomography (CT), digital PET detectors, and more recently full-body PET/CT, and the convergence of systems and molecular biology, radiochemistry, imaging physics, kinetic modeling and mathematics have revolutionized the field of nuclear medicine where PET is not just considered current state-of-the-art, but the future of molecular imaging...

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Detecting cardiac sarcoidosis; a potentially life-threatening condition is challenging and requires a multimodality imaging approach using echocardiography, PET/CT and CMR. Although 18F-FDG is the recommended PET tracer for evaluating cardiac sarcoidosis, it is limited by physiological cardiac FDG uptake and requires stringent patient preparation/ dietary modifications before imaging. We hereby present a case of cardiac sarcoidosis demonstrating myocardial FAPI uptake on cardiac PET, highlighting the potential role of 68Ga-FAPI PET in the evaluation of cardiac sarcoidosis...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET-CT plays an important role in the assessment of cardiovascular diseases. Effective management of urgent scan findings facilitates optimal patient care. METHODS: We characterised the management of urgent, expected and unexpected findings in patients referred for cardiac [18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose integrated with computed tomography (FDG-PET-CT) at the Royal Brompton Hospital (United Kingdom). Urgent findings are escalated by the reporting physicians/radiologists raising RadAlert notifications to the referring clinician...

BACKGROUND: It is clinically needed to explore a more efficient imaging protocol for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial blood flow (MBF) quantitation derived from cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) SPECT camera for the routine clinical utilization. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients with matched clinical characteristics and angiographic findings who completed one-day rest/stress SPECT imaging with either the intermittently sequential imaging (ISI) protocol (two dynamic and two electrocardiography (ECG)-gated scans) or the continuous rapid imaging (CRI) protocol (two dynamic/ECG-gated scans) were included...