Assessment of myocardial viability using a [¹⁵O]-water perfusion PET: Towards a one-stop shop?

Excerpt

Since the first surgical aortocoronary revascularization has been successfully performed in the 1960s, many clinical studies have demonstrated an improvement of the myocardial contractile function in patients with coronary artery disease.1 This led to the introduction of the concept of hibernating myocardium,2 describing a state of persistently altered left ventricular function resulting from the reduced coronary blood supply at rest, with improving potential after restoration of the coronary blood supply. To date, many lines of evidence from clinical studies have clearly demonstrated a significant improvement after revascularization of those patients with reduced left ventricular function and dysfunctional, but viable myocardium.3 Therefore, it is of great clinical importance to accurately discriminate those patients who will most likely benefit from coronary revascularization. …