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[en] The presence of inflammatory cells is a hallmark of unstable atherosclerotic plaques. Several imaging approaches have been developed for the noninvasive detection of inflammatory activities in atherosclerotic plaques. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the injection of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is currently the most widely used imaging technique to evaluate the density of activated macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques. Nevertheless, FDG-PET imaging has logistical and technical constraints that represent an important obstacle to the wider use of this approach for the evaluation of patients with atherosclerosis. In a similar way as in the oncological field, the balance between the benefits and costs of new drugs need to be improved in patients with cardiovascular diseases. PET imaging of plaque inflammation might represent a very useful tool to identify patients who could benefit the most from anti-inflammatory treatments and to exclude patients with other causes of inflammation who are the most likely to develop severe side effects under these drugs. The availability of radiotracers targeting more specifically inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques would greatly facilitate the logistic organization of this imaging and help to expand the use of PET for the evaluation of atherosclerotic patients.

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[en] Important progresses in the management of patients with human immunodeficiency virus, in particular the advent of new anti-retroviral therapies (ART), have turned this rapidly fatal condition into a controllable chronic disease with a life expectancy that approaches the one from the general population. Cardiovascular diseases have now become one of the leading causes of non-HIV-related mortality in this population. Several factors including the presence of HIV in the vascular wall and the development of dyslipidemia and alteration in body fat distribution under ART might play a role the progression of atherosclerosis in HIV-infected patients. The use of imaging biomarkers may help to identify the factors associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and select high-risk patients who will benefit the most from the early implementation of preventive treatments.

[en] The majority of individuals with cardiac amyloidosis have myocardial amyloid deposits formed from misfolded light chain (AL) or transthyretin (TTR) proteins. Diagnosis of amyloidosis and differentiation between the types is important for prognosis, therapy, and genetic counseling. Cardiac ATTR amyloidosis, the focus of this practice points document, is an under diagnosed cause of heart failure. Amyloid derived from wild-type TTR results in a restrictive cardiomyopathy, most commonly presenting in men in their early 70's onwards, but occasionally seen as young as age 60. Although almost 1 in 4 males > 80 years have some TTR-derived amyloid deposits at autopsy, the clinical significance of a mild degree of deposition is unknown - generally clinical manifestations of heart failure occur once enough amyloid has been deposited to cause LV wall thickening. Approximately 3-4% among US African Americans have a common inherited mutation of the TTR gene (Val122Ile), which produces a restrictive cardiomyopathy in a minority, but may contribute to heart failure in a higher proportion. Cardiac amyloidosis should be suspected in individuals with heart failure and thickened ventricles with grade 2 or greater diastolic dysfunction on echocardiography or typical findings on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR; diffuse late gadolinium enhancement, ECV expansion or characteristic T-1 relaxation times); diagnosis is confirmed by endomyocardial biopsy and typing of amyloid fibrils as needed. Several studies confirm the high sensitivity and specificity of ^99mTc-bone compound scintigraphy [^99mTc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2- propanedicarboxylic acid (DPD) or PYP for cardiac ATTR amyloidosis; recent studies highlight the value of DPD and/or PYP in differentiating cardiac ATTR from AL amyloidosis. A distinct advantage of ^99mTc-PYP imaging, even when echocardiography and CMR are diagnostic for cardiac amyloidosis, is its ability to specifically identify ATTR cardiac amyloidosis non-invasively and thereby guide patient management. The purpose of this document is to identify the critical components involved in performing ^99mTechnetium-pyrophosphate (^99mTc-PYP) imaging for the evaluation of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR)

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[en] The use of cardiac PET, and in particular of quantitative myocardial perfusion PET, has been growing during the last years, because scanners are becoming widely available and because several studies have convincingly demonstrated the advantages of this imaging approach. Therefore, there is a need of determining the procedural modalities for performing high-quality studies and obtaining from this demanding technique the most in terms of both measurement reliability and clinical data. Although the field is rapidly evolving, with progresses in hardware and software, and the near perspective of new tracers, the EANM Cardiovascular Committee found it reasonable and useful to expose in an updated text the state of the art of quantitative myocardial perfusion PET, in order to establish an effective use of this modality and to help implementing it on a wider basis. Together with the many steps necessary for the correct execution of quantitative measurements, the importance of a multiparametric approach and of a comprehensive and clinically useful report have been stressed.

[en] Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with an increased risk of stroke. Indeed, silent AF is frequently identified in unexplained ischemic stroke. ${}^{18}$F-FDG-PET/CT is a powerful tool for assessing myocardial metabolic shift and inflammation, both potentially at stake in AF. This case-control study investigated whether AF could promote FDG uptake in atria after physiological myocardial glucose uptake suppression, and the potential relationship between FDG atrial uptake and prevalence of stroke. We retrospectively enrolled 128 patients (64 consecutive patients with AF and 64 without AF as the control group, matched for age and sex) who underwent ${}^{18}$F-FDG-PET/CT after a high-fat low-carbohydrate diet. We analyzed visual and quantitative FDG uptake parameters of the right and left atria (RA/LA) and the right and left appendages (RAA/LAA), and selected clinical features including history of stroke. Diffuse right atrial uptake was present in a third of patients with AF and only two patients in the control group. FDG uptake intensity of both atria was significantly associated with the underlying heart rhythm. The occurrence of stroke was strongly associated with detectable atrial uptake in multivariate analysis, with an odds ratio superior to that of other known risk factors. This study shows a significant correlation between FDG atrial uptake and AF. While inconsistent, this pattern seems to be associated with an increased prevalence of cardioembolic stroke.