Cardiac PET and PET/CT Imaging

Cardiac PET and hybrid PET/CT have revolutionized the field of cardiovascular imaging and offer new options for diagnosis and management of patients with cardiac conditions. Cardiologists, radiologists, and nuclear medicine specialists must have an up-to-date reference in this rapidly changing field in order to most effectively utilize new technology in practice. Cardiac PET and PET/CT Imaging takes a step-by-step approach to PET and PET/CT instrumentation, imaging, and protocols. Beginning with imaging fundamentals and progressing through advanced discussion of specific applications, this book is a comprehensive source of cardiac PET and PET/CT information. Sections written by and for technologists as well as discussion of MRI and other imaging modalities add to the well-rounded scope of this book. A library of original cases and several hundred illustrations, many in color, complete the text by highlighting interpretation and technical challenges in cardiac PET and PET/CT.

Zusammenfassung
When the history of medicine in the latter half of the twentieth century is written, the advances in cardiovascular diagnosis, therapy, and prevention will stand out as one of the most important achievements. Although the age-corrected death rate secondary to coronary artery disease has declined substantially in industri- ized nations during this period, the prevalence of these conditions remains stubbornly high because of the aging of the population. Importantly, the incidence of coronary events and of one of their most important sequelaeheart failureis rising ala- ingly in the developing world. When viewed from a global perspective, cardiovascular disease is assuming a progressively greater importance, and it is estimated that by 2025 it will be, for the ? rst time in human history, the most common cause of death. Clearly, rather than resting on the laurels of our achievements, an intensi? cation of the battle against cardiovascular disease must now be undertaken. Cardiovascular imaging will, without question, play a critical role in this battle. The appropriate sel- tion of therapeutic measures, be they pharmacologic, catheter-based, surgical, alte- tions in lifestyles, or some combination of these, depends on accurate assessments of both cardiac structure and function. Increasingly, the changes that dictate mana- ment are quite subtle and require a level of precision that was not available to cli- cians heretofore.

Inhalt
*Introduction *Instrumentation and Principles of Imaging *PET *CT *Hybrid PET/CT *Cross-Sectional Anatomy of the Heart and Vessels *PET Radiopharmaceuticals for Cardiac Imaging *Contrast Agents for Cardiac CT *Principles of Kinetic Modeling and Quantitation in Cardiac PET *Patient Preparation and Technical Aspects of Performing Cardiac PET and PET/CT Imaging *Diagnostic Approaches to the Patient with Suspected or Known CAD *PET and PET/CT Protocols *Myocardial Perfusion Imaging with PET *CT Coronary Angiography *Relative Merit of MR and CT Coronary Angiography *Combined Assessment of Myocardial Perfusion and Coronary Angiography with Hybrid PET/CT *Monitoring Responses to Therapeutic Interventions *Diagnostic Approaches to the Patient with Heart Failure *Assessing Myocardial Substrate Metabolism with PET *Viability Assessment with PET and PET/CT *Viability Assessment with Contrast CT *Viability Assessment with MRI *Relative Merit of Competing Technologies for Assessing Myocardial Viability *Role of Imaging Cardiac Innervation and Receptors in Heart Failure *Molecular Imaging *Evaluating the Vulnerable Plaque with CT and PET/CT *Evaluating the Vulnerable Plaque with MRI *Evaluating Gene and Cell Therapy *Evaluating Angiogenesis *Future Directions *Cardiac PET and PET/CT: Case-Based Learning