Instance of 68-year-old male affected person with anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and subsequent revascularization. Molecular imaging outcomes are given as quick axis and polar map. Extent of LGE decreased from baseline to follow-up (quick axis). CXCR4 PET sign barely exceeded perfusion defect and baseline LGE extent as indicated by dotted strains. Credit score: Journal of Nuclear Medication (2025). DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.125.270807
A brand new strategy to PET imaging presents a promising means for physicians to promptly establish sufferers who’re in danger for poor purposeful restoration after a coronary heart assault, in keeping with new analysis printed in The Journal of Nuclear Medication.
By visualizing CXCR4—a mobile protein that performs a key position in irritation—this system can allow the well timed implementation of remedies to mitigate irritation and forestall coronary heart failure development.
Coronary heart assault, also called acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is a serious explanation for cardiovascular demise. Based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, greater than 800,000 People have a coronary heart assault every year. After a coronary heart assault, sufferers might develop progressive coronary heart failure. Dependable instruments to find out which sufferers will functionally recuperate and which sufferers will expertise future coronary heart points, nonetheless, are missing.
“We know that AMI triggers an inflammatory response in the heart, which is a determinant of subsequent healing,” famous Johanna Diekmann, MD, senior doctor on the Division of Nuclear Medication, Hannover Medical Faculty, Germany. “Our study sought to image this inflammatory response to gain spatial and functional information that could predict outcomes and better inform treatment strategies.”
The integrative strategy demonstrated that CXCR4 upregulation extends past the infarct core, entails the border zone, and correlates with subsequent left ventricular dysfunction. These findings provide mechanistic perception into the hyperlink between post-ischemic irritation and transforming and underscore the medical relevance of inflammatory exercise after AMI.
“Conventional imaging modalities, including MPI and cardiac MR, predominantly quantify the extent of irreversible tissue damage but do not capture the dynamic inflammatory response that governs healing,” famous Diekmann. “By including CXCR4-targeted PET, we can identify patients who exhibit excessive or prolonged inflammation which may predispose them to adverse remodeling and heart failure. Such information could, in the future, support risk stratification and guide emerging anti-inflammatory or reparative therapies in a precision medicine framework.”
“What’s more,” she continued, “this approach may ultimately facilitate image-guided therapeutic strategies, allowing nuclear medicine to play an active role in monitoring and optimizing interventions that modulate inflammation, repair, and regeneration after cardiac injury.”
Extra info:
Johanna Diekmann et al, CXCR4 PET/CT Predicts Left Ventricular Restoration 8 Months After Acute Myocardial Infarction, Journal of Nuclear Medication (2025). DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.125.270807
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Society of Nuclear Medication and Molecular Imaging
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PET imaging of irritation predicts restoration, guides remedy after coronary heart assault (2025, October 22)
retrieved 22 October 2025
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