Los Angeles, California Positron emission tomography (PET) can reveal long-term coronary damage in young smokers who may appear healthy on other cardiac diagnostic tests according to researchers at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) in Los Angeles. Dr. Y. Iwado and colleagues from the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in Sapporo, Japan, reported on a comparative study of chronic smokers and nonsmokers aged 1835. PET examination of myocardial blood flow indicated that the smokers had diminished endothelial vasodilator function, i.e., the lining of the arteries had slowed response to artery-widening chemicals.

It is widely known that chronic cigarette smoking alters coronary vascular endothelial response, but studies such as this indicate that damage begins much earlier in the smokers life than previously believed. The risk of death from coronary artery disease is up to six times higher in smokers than in nonsmokers, and a decline in responsiveness to vasodilators is one of the factors that leads directly to narrowing of arteries and subsequent heart attack and stroke.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable premature death in the United States and accounts for more than 400,000 deaths annually. PET is a diagnostic imaging test that measures metabolic activity and generates images of organ or tissue function.

The presentation by Dr. Iwado and colleagues is one of many at the SNM meeting that look at the ability of PET to predict future illness and provide valuable information for proactive treatment planning.

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Contact: Karen Lubieniecki
karenlub@aol.com
703-683-0357
Society of Nuclear Medicine
17-Jun-2002

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