title: The role of nuclear cardiac imaging in risk stratification of sudden cardiac death.
abstract: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) represents a significant portion of all cardiac deaths. Current guidelines focus mainly on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as the main criterion for SCD risk stratification and management. However, LVEF alone lacks both sensitivity and specificity in stratifying patients. Recent research has provided interesting data which supports a greater role for advanced cardiac imaging in risk stratification and patient management. In this article, we will focus on nuclear cardiac imaging, including left ventricular function assessment, myocardial perfusion imaging, myocardial blood flow quantification, metabolic imaging, and neurohormonal imaging. We will discuss how these can be used to better understand SCD and better stratify patient with both ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.
authors.affiliation: National Cardiac PET Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada. djuneau@ottawaheart.ca.|Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), Montreal, QC, Canada. djuneau@ottawaheart.ca.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Juneau
authors.affiliation: National Cardiac PET Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Erthal
authors.affiliation: National Cardiac PET Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada.
authors.forename: Benjamin J W
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.affiliation: National Cardiac PET Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada.
authors.forename: Calum
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Redpath
authors.affiliation: National Cardiac PET Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada.
authors.forename: Terrence D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Ruddy
authors.affiliation: Turku PET Centre, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Juhani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knuuti
authors.affiliation: National Cardiac PET Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada.
authors.forename: Rob S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Beanlands
mesh_terms: D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality*
keywords: MIBG; PET; SPECT; Sudden cardiac death; hibernating myocardium; ischemic heart disease; sympathetic innervation