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Assessment of Blood Flow and Substrate Metabolism in the Myocardium of the Normal Human Heart

  • Chapter
Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 165))

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Abstract

The function of the human myocardium depends upon a continuous supply of high-energy phosphate, generated mostly through oxidative metabolism. The latter requires delivery of adequate amounts of oxygen and substrates through the coronary circulation. To exemplify the importance of these processes, the human left ventricular myocardium (assuming an average mass of 166 g for a 70 kg person) receives in the resting state about 1901 of blood and consumes about 201 of O2 during a 24 h period, while it synthesizes about 1.2kg of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), that is, about 7.5 times its mass (which is accomplished by “recycling” of ATP). Different from other organs such as the brain, myocardium relies on several substrates for oxidation. These include free fatty acid, glucose, lactate, and ketone bodies. Selection of a given substrate depends on its concentration in plasma but also on hormone concentrations, such as insulin and norepinephrine. The preferential use of a given substrate, as well as substrate interactions together with overall oxidative metabolism, can now be examined and quantified noninvasively with positron emission tomography (PET). This chapter describes findings with PET on myocardial blood flow and overall oxidative metabolism in the normal human myocardium.

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Authors
  1. Heinrich R. Schelbert
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technical University in Munich, Klinikum rechts der Isar Ismaninger Strasse 22, D-81675, Munich, Germany

    Markus Schwaiger M.D. (Director and Professor of Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine) (Director and Professor of Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine)

  2. Division of Nuclear Medicine Department of Internal Medicine UMH B1 G412 / 0028, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-0028, USA

    Markus Schwaiger M.D. (Director and Professor of Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine) (Director and Professor of Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine)

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Schelbert, H.R. (1996). Assessment of Blood Flow and Substrate Metabolism in the Myocardium of the Normal Human Heart. In: Schwaiger, M. (eds) Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 165. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1233-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1233-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8524-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1233-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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