Deval Mehta

Myocardial viability: nuclear assessment.

There are an estimated 5 million patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) in the United States. The long‐term outcome in these patients is poor with a 5‐year mortality of 70%. There is evidence suggesting that revascularization in patients with viable myocardium can result in reduced event rate in these patients. The presence of viable myocardium best identifies patients who will improve with revascularization. Noninvasive imaging with radionuclide tracers has been used extensively to identify the presence and extent of viable myocardium. We have summarized the role of radionuclide myocardial perfusion and function evaluation in assessment of viable myocardium in this review.