Molecular Imaging of Cardiac Metabolism, Innervation, and Conduction

Abstract

Cardiac diseases have complex molecular origins. However, current clinical diagnostic tools are often inadequate to uncover specific molecular components of cardiac pathologies. Thus, we are still lacking a detailed understanding of disease progression, and both patient diagnosis and treatment are often inaccurate. Molecular imaging could play a leading role in translating basic research to both preclinical and clinical cardiac research, ultimately improving our understanding and management of human disease. In this review, we highlight the diversity of current molecular imaging tools that have been used in clinical research or have reached the stage of clinical translation. Facilitated by the steadily increasing infrastructure of clinical positron emission tomography and positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging cameras and advancing gating analysis, these tools allow the implementation of clinical cardiac molecular imaging trials to deepen our knowledge of human disease and improve patient care.