Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
Coronary calcium scores from CT scans traditionally have been used to measure calcification to predict a patient's risk of a future cardiac event. Now, researchers from Saint Louis University are looking to PET/CT to generate calcium score data for baseline and follow-up studies of lymphoma patients after chemotherapy.
Because chemotherapy can accelerate coronary calcium deposition, their new approach could better evaluate the potentially negative effects of the treatment on coronary health. Get the details first in this Insider Exclusive.
The correct interpretation of coronary artery calcium scores is also critical for symptomatic patients with very low numbers. Israeli researchers found that patients with calcium scores of 10 or less are almost as likely to have a positive SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging scan -- and a subsequent cardiac event -- as patients with higher calcium scores.
In other news, PET imaging of tau proteins with a novel radiotracer based on fluorine-18 (F-18), known as F-18 AV-1451, is showing great promise in differentiating between Alzheimer's patients and cognitively normal individuals and identifying how the disease may develop.
Molecular breast imaging (MBI) is in the spotlight as an option for women with dense tissue. A new study recommends supplemental imaging modalities such as MBI for this patient population.
Finally, new research hints that radiologists who receive training in nuclear medicine are able to interpret anatomical imaging studies just as well as general radiologists. The research is good news for efforts to create a unified training program for hybrid imaging.
Stay in touch with the Molecular Imaging Community over the weeks ahead, as we continue to report on research from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) annual meeting.
