Cardiac Amyloidosis

With the first drug treatments for cardiac amyloidosis recently entering the market, there has been an explosion of interest to diagnose and care for these patients. It is considered a rare disease, but many experts now say it is actually just be under diagnosed. The disease is caused by protein misfolding. Normally soluble proteins in the bloodstream become insoluble and deposit abnormally in the tissues and organs throughout the body. There are three main kinds of amyloid that affect the heart, light chain amyloid (AL) and two types of transthyretin amyloid (ATTR or TTR). The first type of ATTR is hereditary, or familial amyloid, and the second is wild type, or age-related TTR amyloid. Nuclear imaging, echocardiography, CT and MRI all play roles in diagnosing amyloid and in determining the subtype, which is required for targeted treatment. 

Jeremy Slivnick, MD, presents at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 2023 meeting on how artificial intelligence (AI) can help make echocardiography better able to detect subtle signs of early cardiac amyloid disease when it is easier to treat with better outcomes. ssistant professor of medicine and an advanced cardiac imager at the University of Chicago.

AI models for cardiac amyloidosis could make a world of difference

Jeremy Slivnick, MD, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about AI's potential to transform how cardiac amyloidosis is diagnosed and treated. 

January 30, 2024
Jamie Bourque, MD, medical director of the nuclear cardiology and stress laboratory, and medical director of the echocardiography lab, at the University of Virginia, discusses a new multimodality consensus statement for imaging cardiac amyloidosis. This area has rapidly expanded over the past couple years now that there are drugs to treat the condition. Examples of nuclear imaging for cardiac amyloidosis.

New ASNC quality metrics will support standardization of imaging for cardiac amyloidosis

Interest in cardiac amyloidosis has been on the rise in recent years. Jamie Bourque, MD, talked to Cardiovascular Business about an upcoming consensus statement focused on using cardiac imaging to evaluate patients for signs of this serious condition. 

January 18, 2024
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Imaging specialists partner with Pfizer to deliver AI-powered cardiac amyloidosis evaluations

Improving care for patients with cardiac amyloidosis has emerged as one of the hottest topics in cardiology. Pfizer helped kickstart that trend in 2019 when it gained FDA approval for two separate medications for the rare, but potentially fatal disease. 

January 10, 2024
Video interview with ASNC President President Mouaz Al-Mallah, MD, who explains why nuclear cardiology needs to upgrade its technology to be competitive. #ASNC #ASNC2023 #ASNC23

Previewing ASNC 2023: Why nuclear cardiology needs to evolve

ASNC President President Mouaz Al-Mallah, MD, said nuclear cardiology needs to upgrade old imaging systems and embrace new technology to deliver better value for patients. 

September 19, 2023
Purvi Parwani, MD, director of echocardiography, Loma Linda University Medical Center, explains the trend where heart failure imaging guidelines are driving a rising use of mixed multimodality imaging. #ASE #ASE2023

Multimodality imaging helps cardiologists manage heart failure patients—with an assist from AI

Purvi Parwani, MD, discussed the trend toward multimodality imaging for heart failure management. All modalities have their own weaknesses, she explained. 

September 7, 2023
Roosha Parikh, MD, advanced imaging cardiologist, St. Francis Heart Hospital, Long Island, New York, and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, presented in one of the ASE 2023 amyloid sessions and spoke with Cardiovascular Business about the disease. Example of cardiac ultrasound strain imaging for cardiac amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis now a hot topic in cardiac imaging due to new drug treatment

Advanced cardiac imager Roosha Parikh, MD, explained that cardiac amyloidosis is regularly misdiagnosed. It can often be identified in echocardiography results, however, if physicians know how to identify it. 

July 11, 2023
Stephen Little, MD, discusses trends in echocardiography at ASE 2023. #ASE23 #ASE2023 What is new in cardiac ultrasound.

Back in the spotlight: Exploring echocardiography's revival

American Society of Echocardiography President Stephen Little, MD, says several trends and technologies are coming together at once, leading to renewed interest in echo.

July 10, 2023
VIDEO: American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) President Mouaz Al-Mallah, MD, chair of cardiovascular PET and associate director of nuclear cardiology, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, and ASNC President-elect Larry Phillips, MD, director of nuclear cardiology, NYU Langone, outline the new technologies available and why upgrading cardiac nuclear labs matters and what is the ROI. #ASNC

What is the ROI for upgrading nuclear cardiology labs?

Some nuclear cardiology labs are still using SPECT systems that are 20-25 years old. Is it time to make an upgrade? 

April 12, 2023

Around the web

Automated AI-generated measurements combined with annotated CT images can improve treatment planning and help referring physicians and patients better understand their disease, explained Sarah Jane Rinehart, MD, director of cardiac imaging with Charleston Area Medical Center.

Two advanced algorithms—one for CAC scores and another for segmenting cardiac chamber volumes—outperformed radiologists when assessing low-dose chest CT scans. 

"Gen AI can help tackle repetitive tasks and provide insights into massive datasets, saving valuable time," Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said Tuesday. 

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