Imaging of Radiolabelled Fatty Acid Metabolism

Abstract

Myocardial metabolism is essential for cardiac contraction and maintenance of cell integrity. Under aerobic, fasting conditions, the primary myocardial substrates are fatty acids. Imaging of myocardial metabolic processes in vivo yields valuable insights into myocardial pathophysiological mechanisms. Thereby, it offers a better understanding of various cardiac diseases and may contribute to the evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness of various interventions. Consequently, there is a great interest regarding the development of reliable non-invasive techniques for the imaging of myocardial substrate metabolism. This chapter focuses on several single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for the assessment of myocardial fatty acid metabolism. In addition, the impact of different clinical conditions on fatty acid metabolism is discussed, and how these changes in metabolism can be assessed with the radiolabelled tracers.

Keywords: Acetate, Beta-oxidation, Fatty acids, Metabolism, Myocardial ischemia, Myocardium, Palmitate, Positron emission tomography, Radiolabelled tracers, Single photon emission computed tomography.