Key result
Positron emission tomography holds great promise for imaging and quantifying relevant disease processes in pulmonary arterial hypertension, particularly for monitoring treatment responses.
PET imaging holds promise as a clinical tool to assess pathobiological mechanisms such as pulmonary vascular remodeling and right heart failure in patients with PAH.
PET imaging of PAH remodeling is hypothesis-generating; leaves open clinical diagnostic utility pending validation.
Whereas the insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and associated right heart failure have increased in recent years, there is a lack of clinical tools to assess the pathobiological mechanisms in patients. Positron emission tomography (PET) provides an array of new possibilities to image and quantify relevant disease processes, including proliferation, angiogenesis, matrix remodeling, shifts in metabolism and neurohormonal signaling. Here we describe the first studies which were conducted to image pulmonary vascular remodeling and right heart failure in vivo and discuss additional targets for imaging which hold great promise for future use in PAH patients.
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Harms et al. (2013) conducted a review in Pulmonary arterial hypertension and associated right heart failure. Positron emission tomography (PET) was evaluated. Positron emission tomography holds great promise for imaging and quantifying relevant disease processes in pulmonary arterial hypertension, particularly for monitoring treatment responses.
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