Current and Future Cardiovascular PET Radiopharmaceuticals.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Nuclear Medicine
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a rapidly evolving clinical imaging modality.
• Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a leading cause of mortality worldwide.
• Accurate diagnostic tools are crucial for managing CVDs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review important PET tracers used in the clinical diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.
• To highlight the application of PET imaging in assessing various cardiac and vascular pathologies.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of current PET tracers and their applications in cardiology.
• Focus on tracers for myocardial blood flow, atherosclerosis, fatty acid metabolism, and cardiac autonomic nervous system.

Main Results:

• PET tracers enable quantitative assessment of myocardial blood flow.
• Specific tracers facilitate the imaging of atherosclerotic plaque burden and composition.
• PET can evaluate cardiac fatty acid metabolism and autonomic nervous system function.

Conclusions:

• PET imaging offers valuable insights into multiple facets of cardiovascular disease.
• The reviewed PET tracers represent important tools for clinical management and research in cardiology.