At MedTrace we keep a close eye on all new scientific research related to 15O-water and we are happy to see yet again further indications of how relevant this tracer could be to cardiac diseases.
The independent research article “Association of Right Ventricular Myocardial Blood Flow With Pulmonary Pressures and Outcome in Cardiac Amyloidosis” was recently published in the prominent journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.
The aim of the study was to first find a connection between the blood flow in the right ventricle measured with 15O-water PET and the standard measurements of pressure in the right ventricle. Second, the study aimed to determine if this measurement could help predict what might happen in people with cardiac amyloidosis, a condition where abnormal proteins build up in the tissues of the heart affecting its function.
Hendrik J. Harms, PhD, one of the authors, and Sr. Scientist at MedTrace says:
“Under normal conditions, blood pressure in the lungs is low and the right ventricle itself, which is generating the blood pressure in the lungs, needs little blood to function. Many cardiac diseases, however, can cause increased blood pressure in the lungs and the right ventricle must work harder, for which it is not built. Measuring the blood flow in the right ventricle can give us insights into patients that may have such elevated blood pressure in the lungs, and possibly identify patients with a high risk of heart failure and death.”
The authors conclude that it is possible to measure the blood flow of the right ventricle of the heart using 15O-water PET and that, if the right ventricle has an elevated myocardial blood flow as compared to the left ventricle, patients are more likely to have pulmonary hypertension (a condition that affects the blood vessels in the lungs) and suffer from heart failure or death.
We are looking forward to seeing further scientific research on the potential for diagnostic use of these findings.
The article “Association of Right Ventricular Myocardial Blood Flow With Pulmonary Pressures and Outcome in Cardiac Amyloidosis” was written by:
Hendrik J. Harms PhD a b
Tor Clemmensen MD, PhD b
Sara Rosengren MD c
Lars Tolbod PhD b
Björn Pilebro MD, PhD d
Gerhard Wikström MD, PhD c
Sven-Olof Granstam MD, PhD c
Tanja Kero MD, PhD a
Marcelo Di Carli MD, PhD e
Steen Hvitfeldt Poulsen MD, PhD b
Jens Sorensen MD, PhD a b
a Department of Surgical Sciences, Nuclear Medicine and PET, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
b Clinical Institute, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
c Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
d Department of Cardiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
e Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Access the article via ScienceDirect here.
