Cardiological applications of nuclear medicine

Cardiovascular mortality is falling in most industrialised nations. Primari ly responsible for this encouraging trend are preventive measures such as r isk-factor modification but improved medical and surgical management have h elped too. Clinical decision making in the patient with coronary heart dise ase demands techniques that not only describe coronary anatomy but also pro vide functional indices for early detection and to monitor the severity and extent of disease. Nuclear medicine methods can characterise non-invasivel y myocardial function, perfusion, and metabolism. Novel radiopharmaceutical s, improvements in imaging equipment, and extensive validation have contrib uted to the growing clinical acceptance of these techniques and to their co st-effective integration in the workup of patients with cardiovascular dise ase.