PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Rischpler, Christoph
AU  - Nekolla, Stephan G.
AU  - Dregely, Isabel
AU  - Schwaiger, Markus
TI  - Hybrid PET/MR Imaging of the Heart: Potential, Initial Experiences, and Future Prospects
AID  - 10.2967/jnumed.112.105353
DP  - 2013 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 402--415
VI  - 54
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/3/402.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/3/402.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2013 Mar 01; 54
AB  - PET/CT and other combined scanners have in the past decade rapidly emerged as important research tools and are proving to be invaluable for improved diagnostics in routine nuclear medicine. The design of hybrid PET/MR scanners presented a formidable technical challenge, and only recently were these instruments introduced to the market. Initial expectations of the performance of these scanners have been high, notably because of the potential for superior tissue contrast inherent in the MR modality, as well as the potential for multiparametric functional imaging in conjunction with PET. However, the additional value and potential clinical role that these new systems might bring to the cardiac field have yet to be documented. This review presents a comparative summary of the existing applications for PET and MR in the field of cardiology and suggests potential cardiac applications exploiting unique properties of the newly introduced combined instrumentation.