Pulmonary vascular remodeling and right heart failure in pulmonary hypertension: future role of positron emission tomography in decoding the enigma

Whereas the insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and associated right heart failure have increased in recent years, there is a lack of clinical tools to assess the pathobiological mechanisms in patients. Positron emission tomography (PET) provi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Harms, Hendrik J, van de Veerdonk, Mariƫlle C, Lammertsma, Adriaan A, Noordegraaf, Anton Vonk, Bogaard, Harm Jan
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4715170/
Description
Summary:Whereas the insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and associated right heart failure have increased in recent years, there is a lack of clinical tools to assess the pathobiological mechanisms in patients. Positron emission tomography (PET) provides an array of new possibilities to image and quantify relevant disease processes, including proliferation, angiogenesis, matrix remodeling, shifts in metabolism and neurohormonal signaling. Here we describe the first studies which were conducted to image pulmonary vascular remodeling and right heart failure in vivo and discuss additional targets for imaging which hold great promise for future use in PAH patients.