Positron emission tomography in ischemic heart disease

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, Beatriz Saldanha
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Ferreira, Maria João
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/101606; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.repc.2019.02.011
• topic: Positron emission tomography/ computed tomography; Ischemic heart disease; Perfusion imaging;; Myocardial viability; PET-CT; Doença cardíaca isquémica; Perfusão miocárdica; Viabilidade miocárdica; Humans; Myocardial Ischemia; Positron-Emission Tomography; Reproducibility of Results

Non-invasive assessment of ischemic heart disease remains a challenging task, even with a large armory of diagnostic modalities. Positron emission tomography (PET) is an advanced radionuclide technique that has been available for decades. Originally used as a research tool that contributed to advances in the understanding of cardiovascular pathophysiology, it is now becoming established in clinical practice and is increasingly used in the diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with ischemic heart disease. PET myocardial perfusion imaging has a mean sensitivity and specificity of around 90% for the detection of angiographically significant coronary artery disease, and is also highly accurate for assessing the prognosis of patients with ischemic heart disease. Depending on the radiotracer used, it can provide information not only on myocardial perfusion but also on myocardial metabolism, which is essential for viability assessment. The potential of this imaging technique has been further increased with the introduction of hybrid scanners, which combine PET with computed tomography or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, offering integrated morphological and functional information and hence comprehensive assessment of the effects of atherosclerosis on the myocardium. The scope of this review is to summarize the role of PET in ischemic heart disease.