Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography Approaches to Imaging Vascular and Cardiac Inflammation.

Inflammation plays a significant role in a wide range of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The numerous implications of inflammation in all steps of CVDs, including initiation, progression and complications, have prompted the emergence of noninvasive imaging modalities as diagnostic, prognostic and monitoring tools. In this review, we first synthesize the existing evidence on the role of inflammation in vascular and cardiac diseases, in order to identify the main targets used in noninvasive imaging. We chose to focus on positron emission tomographic (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, which offer the greatest potential of translation and clinical application. We detail the main preclinical and clinical studies in the following CVDs: coronary and vascular atherosclerosis, abdominal aortic aneurysms, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, and acute heart transplant rejection. We highlight the potential complementary roles of these imaging modalities, which are currently being studied in the emerging technology of PET/MRI. Finally, we provide a perspective on innovations and future applications of noninvasive imaging of cardiovascular inflammation. (Circ J 2016; 80: 1269-1277).