New 2018 guidelines for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) protocols on conventional and novel single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for nuclear cardiology practitioners has received praise from the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).

Organizations are working in sync to put a focus on mandating optimized radiation doses in nuclear cardiology studies performed across the nation and beyond. 

After reviewing the available literature, the societies said that rest-stress myocardial perfusion PET was a first-line preferred test for patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease who meet the criteria for stress imaging and are unable to complete the diagnostic level exercise stress imaging study.

While amyloid imaging is typically discussed with regard to diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, a team of French researchers, presenting at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2015 annual meeting, have found that amyloid scans of the heart can predict major cardiac events.

Amyloid imaging can tell Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) apart because FTD typically does not show the same pattern of amyloid, right? Not so fast, say brain researchers.

PET with 11C-PIB provides a noninvasive method for visualizing amyloid deposits in the heart, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The researchers suggest that 11C-PIB eventually may be used in the clinical setting as both a diagnostic tool and a treatment follow-up method.

Technological improvements in image acquisition and software processing in nuclear cardiology should allow physicians to shave patient imaging times dramatically or cut radiation doses fourfold, according to a new preferred practice statement from the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC).