Novel imaging method to identify cardiac patients’ risk

Imaging the loss of nerve function in the heart may identify patients with the highest risk of sudden cardiac arrest, who are the most likely to benefit from receiving an implantable cardiac defibrillator. The University of Buffalo PAREPET study, or Prediction of Arrhythmic Events with Positron Emission Tomography, is the largest PET imaging study ever on sudden cardiac arrest. The researchers used PET imaging to quantify the amount of denervated myocardium, where sympathetic nerves in the heart have died or become damaged due to inadequate blood flow. "The principal question we posed with this study was whether the amount of denervated myocardium could predict sudden cardiac arrest," says James A. Fallavollita, lead author of the study. "We found that when at least 38 percent of the heart was denervated, there was a significant increase in the risk of sudden cardiac arrest."