Cardiovascular molecular imaging

The recent introduction of novel gene therapies for treatment of cardiac and noncardiac diseases has caused a remarkable need for noninvasive imaging approaches to evaluate and track the progress of these therapies. In the past we have relied on the evaluation of the physiological consequences of therapeutic interventions. With advances in targeted molecular imaging we now have the ability to evaluate early molecular effects of these therapies. The development of dedicated high resolution small animal imaging systems and the establishment of transgenic animal models has enhanced our understanding of cardiovascular disease and has expedited the development of new gene therapies. Noninvasive targeted molecular imaging will allow us to directly track biochemical processes and signaling events that precede the pathophysiological changes. The examples of targeted molecular imaging outlined in this seminar provide some insight into the bright and growing future of cardiovascular molecular imaging. The success of this new field rests on the development of targeted biological markers of molecular and physiological processes, development of new instruments with improved sensitivity and resolution, and the establishment of multidisciplinary teams of experimental and clinical investigators with a wide range of expertise. Molecular imaging already plays a critical role in the experimental laboratory. We expect that, in the near future, targeted molecular imaging will be routinely used in clinical cardiovascular nuclear medicine laboratories in conjunction with existing imaging modalities for both diagnostic and prognostic purposes, as well as for evaluation of new genetic based therapeutic strategies.