PET as a cardiovascular and metabolic research tool

Positron emission tomography (PET) represents the most advanced scintigraph ic imaging technology. It can be employed for cardiovascular research as we ll as for clinical applications in patients with various cardiovascular dis eases. PET allows the noninvasive functional assessment of myocardial perfu sion, substrate metabolism and cardiac innervation as well as the study of skeletal muscle metabolism and perfusion in vivo. The large number of exist ing tracers and the flexibility of the PET technique that allows it to be c ombined with many other methods, such as the insulin clamp technique, incre ase its potential as a research tool. In the detection of myocardial viabil ity PET is regarded as re golden standard, and it is the only method availa ble for the quantitative assessment of myocardial blood flow.