Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · May 2009
Is computed tomography coronary angiography the most accurate and effective noninvasive imaging tool to evaluate patients with acute chest pain in the emergency department? CT coronary angiography is the most accurate and effective noninvasive imaging tool for evaluating patients presenting with chest pain to the emergency department: antagonist viewpoint.
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · Mar 2009
Relationships among regional arterial inflammation, calcification, risk factors, and biomarkers: a prospective fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography imaging study.
Fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG PET) imaging of atherosclerosis has been used to quantify plaque inflammation and to measure the effect of plaque-stabilizing drugs. We explored how atherosclerotic plaque inflammation varies across arterial territories and how it relates to arterial calcification. We also tested the hypotheses that the degree of local arterial inflammation measured by PET is correlated with the extent of systemic inflammation and presence of risk factors for vascular disease. ⋯ This study shows that FDG PET imaging can increase our knowledge of how atherosclerotic plaque inflammation relates to calcification, serum biomarkers, and vascular risk factors. Plaque inflammation and calcification rarely overlap, supporting the theory that calcification represents a late, burnt-out stage of atherosclerosis. Inflammation in one arterial territory is associated with inflammation elsewhere, and the degree of local arterial inflammation is reflected in the blood levels of several circulating biomarkers. We suggest that FDG PET imaging could be used as a surrogate marker of both atherosclerotic disease activity and drug effectiveness. Prospective, event-driven studies are now underway to determine the role of this technique in clinical risk prediction.
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · Sep 2008
Multicenter Study123 I-mIBG scintigraphy to predict inducibility of ventricular arrhythmias on cardiac electrophysiology testing: a prospective multicenter pilot study.
Disturbances of autonomic function after infarction are associated with both total mortality and sudden death. Although many imaging techniques for assessing the cardiac autonomic nervous system have been studied, the clinical usefulness of these techniques remains uncertain. This exploratory pilot study examined the relationship between abnormalities of ventricular sympathetic innervation delineated by scintigraphic imaging with (123)I-mIBG and inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and previous myocardial infarction. ⋯ The standard indices of (123)I-mIBG imaging (H/M and innervation-perfusion mismatch score) are not predictive of EP test results. The association of (123)I-mIBG SPECT defect severity with EP test inducibility in this exploratory study will require confirmation in a larger cohort of patients.