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Cardiac Applications of PET-MR

  • Nuclear Cardiology (V Dilsizian, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Cardiology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the clinical applications of PET-MR in the setting of cardiac imaging with emphasis on specific scenarios where both techniques together provided added information.

Recent Findings

Synergy of cardiac PET and MR fusion may hold similar promise eliminating ionizing radiation and improving tissue contrast. Future development of new hybrid scanners, use of new imaging tracers, and clinical applications are significant factors which will influence its use.

Summary

Both positron emission tomography (PET) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) provide important anatomic and physiologic information with regard to the heart. Being able to combine the data from these two examinations in a hybrid technique allows for a more complete evaluation of cardiac pathology. While hybrid PET-CT has already established the utility of a combined imaging approach, the use of CMR in lieu of CT allows for elimination of ionizing radiation and for improved tissue contrast.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Peter J. Bergquist, Anja Jones, Charles S. White & Jean Jeudy

  2. Department of Radiology, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Michael S. Chung

  3. Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Mark A. Ahlman

  4. University of Maryland School of Medicine, 22 S Greene Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Jean Jeudy

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  1. Peter J. Bergquist
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Correspondence to Jean Jeudy.

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Conflict of Interest

Peter J. Bergquist, Michael S. Chung, Anja Jones, Mark A. Ahlman, Charles S. White, and Jean Jeudy declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Nuclear Cardiology

Electronic supplementary material

Suppl Figure 1

Patient with 3 vessel coronary disease and transmural infarct. (A) Gradient echo sequence demonstrating a transmural perfusion abnormality of the apical left ventricle. (B) Fused FDG PET demonstrates absence of myocardial metabolism in the same territory consistent with infarcted tissue. Additional correlation with LGE confirms the location and severity of injury. (C) MR images and presence of late gadolinium enhancement confirms the location and severity of injury. (TIFF 2269 kb)

Suppl Figure 2

Patient with pulmonary sarcoidosis and decreased ventricular function. (A-D) Steady state free precession MR and PET images demonstrate FDG activity in multiple mediastinal lymph nodes. No evidence of cardiac involvement was observed. (TIFF 2622 kb)

Suppl Figure 3

Patient with cervical carcinoma with cardiac metastases. (A) Echocardiography demonstrates thickening of the lateral wall of the left ventricle but otherwise no characterizing findings. (B,C) The same lateral wall abnormality on MR appears isointense on T1 weighted images but hyperintense on T2-weighted images suggesting central necrosis. (D) Gradient echo perfusion sequence shows significantly decreased signal. (E,F) Steady state free precession and fused PET MR also suggest an infiltrative mass with central necrosis and increased metabolic activity. (TIFF 2564 kb)

Suppl Figure 4

Patient with metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma. (A,B) Axial SSFP and fused FDG PET demonstrates a metabolically active chest wall nodule and right hilar adenopathy. Limited view of the right ventricle also reveals an intracavitary soft tissue mass. (C,D) Fused FDG PET and unfused SSFP images demonstrate in the mass in the right ventricle and extending into the right ventricular outflow tract. (TIFF 2413 kb)

Suppl Figure 5

Right adrenal pheochromocytoma. (A,B) Sagittal T2 and FDG-PET images demonstrate a large right adrenal mass extending up the inferior vena cava and into the right atrium. (C,D) Oblique T1 weighted image and fused FDG-PET images further illustrate the extent of metastases and its metabolic activity. (TIFF 2066 kb)

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Bergquist, P.J., Chung, M.S., Jones, A. et al. Cardiac Applications of PET-MR. Curr Cardiol Rep 19, 42 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-017-0847-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-017-0847-9

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