According to researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, positron emission tomography (PET) combined with computed tomography (CT) reveals a "superior" view of atherosclerosis plaque inflammation that it may eventually be used to identify individuals who are at high risk for heart attack or stroke.

These findings were reported last month during SNM's 53rd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

"The future is using PET/CT-and other developing technologies-to assess plaques that are biologically active with deadly consequences when they misbehave," said Ahmed Tawakol, cardiologist and co-director of the Cardiac MR/PET/CT Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"PET/CT in combination is more powerful than either PET or CT alone, providing us with an enriched data set," added the co-author of "Combined PET/CT Assessment of Carotid Plaques: A Human Histopathological Study."

Using the best of today's imaging technologies will allow cardiologists to predict the level of risk in individual patients thereby identifying the appropriate medical attention needed by each patient.

Read more at SNM.

Photo Credit: IAEA