PMID: 26788807Jan 21, 2016Paper

Nuclear cardiac imaging for the diagnosis and management of heart failure: what can be learned from recent guidelines?

The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging : Official Publication of the Italian Association of Nuclear Medicine (AIMN) [and] the International Association of Radiopharmacology (IAR), [and] Section of the Society of Radiopharmaceutica
Delphine M Vervloet, J De Sutter

Abstract

The aim of this review is to provide the clinical cardiologist and nuclear medicine specialist a brief overview of the currently accepted clinical use of cardiac nuclear imaging for the diagnosis and management of patients with heart failure based on recent (2012-2015) European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines. We used the most recent ESC guidelines on heart failure, management of stable coronary artery disease, cardiac pacing, myocardial revascularisation, non-cardiac surgery and ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. Nowadays cardiac nuclear imaging is useful in almost every step in heart failure from diagnostics to treatment. In first diagnosis of heart failure radionuclide imaging can provide information on ventricular function and volumes and nuclear imaging techniques provide accurate and reproducible left ventricular function assessment. In work out of the aetiology of the heart failure CMR, SPECT and PET imaging can demonstrate presence of inducible ischemia and myocardial viability. For prognostic information MIBG might be promising in the future. In treatment planning cardiac nuclear imaging is important to evaluate new angina and to assess accurate left ventricular ejection fraction before cardiac resynchron...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, that can lead to muscular or electrical dysfunction of the heart. It is often an irreversible disease that is associated with a poor prognosis. There are different causes and classifications of cardiomyopathies. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to this disease.

Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia that is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly due to stroke and thromboembolism. Here is the latest research.

Arrhythmia

Arrhythmias are abnormalities in heart rhythms, which can be either too fast or too slow. They can result from abnormalities of the initiation of an impulse or impulse conduction or a combination of both. Here is the latest research on arrhythmias.