Amyloid imaging is generally associated with detecting plaques in the brain but scientists have recently discovered that it also holds the ability to diagnose cardiac amyloidosis as well. In a study that’s the first of its kind, positron emission tomography or PET visualised the amyloid deposits in the heart, which is great news for medical science as there is currently no way of testing for this condition without invasive surgery.
A dangerous health condition causes by abnormal amyloid deposits which accumulate in the heart tissue, cardiac amyloidosis is a serious health problem. Currently, echocardiography is the predominant form of imaging, with biopsies being used to confirm the diagnosis. However, new studies into the imaging process suggest that there could be a new, non-invasive way of showing the distribution of amyloids in organs. This way of diagnosing a patient could help lower the risk of the disease spreading, as early diagnosis is key in catching the problem before the structure of the heart tissue changes.
The study involved ten patients who had all been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, as well as five healthy patients. The PET with 11C-PIB was used to visualise any deposits that had gathered in the heart tissue, with 11C-acetate being used to measure the myocardial blood flow. It was noted that 11C-PIB was found in the right ventricle of half the patients, whilst nine patients showed signs of reversible uptake. The myocardial blood flow was lower in the patients who had cardiac amyloidosis, but there was no correlation between the myocardial blood flow and 11C-PIB uptake.
The research noted shows that there is a strong need for molecular imaging in order to detect underlying and aberration in the disease, which shows no specific symptoms or signs. The imaging test could show key information which could potentially be useful in treating this and other diseases as well.
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