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Cardiac Innervation Imaging: Implications for Risk Stratification and Therapeutic Decision-Making

  • Cardiac Nuclear Imaging (A. Cuocolo, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is associated with reduced cardiac sympathetic neuronal uptake of norepinephrine (NE), which can be assessed noninvasively using different radiotracers and planar or single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Such sympathetic derangement in HF patients has shown to be an indicator of unfavorable prognosis. Therefore, cardiac sympathetic imaging might be useful as an indicator of the effectiveness of the medical therapy and consequently for risk stratification of patients with HF to more effectively guide specific therapies. This article reviews the current status on the subject and evaluates the literature published over recent years.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Univ Autonoma de Barcelona, Sant Antoni M. Claret, 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain

    Albert Flotats & Ignasi Carrió

Authors
  1. Albert Flotats
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  2. Ignasi Carrió
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Correspondence to Albert Flotats.

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Conflict of Interest

Albert Flotats and Ignasi Carrió declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

With regard to the authors’ research cited in this paper, all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. In addition, all applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cardiac Nuclear Imaging

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Flotats, A., Carrió, I. Cardiac Innervation Imaging: Implications for Risk Stratification and Therapeutic Decision-Making. Curr Cardiovasc Imaging Rep 9, 6 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12410-015-9368-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12410-015-9368-3

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