Or, you can return to the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology's Home Page . Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy Click on image above to view full-size image. Shown above are adjacent-plane images from an ammonia study.
Perfusion is relatively homogeneous throughout the myocardium.
This condition is referred to as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. PET can be useful in distinguishing idiopathic vs. ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy because flow studies will be normal in the idiopathic case but not in the ischemic case. The dilated cardiomyopathies are characterized by ventricular enlargement with systolic dysfunction eventually leading to congestive heart failure. Ischemic cardiomyopathies can be potentially treated with revascularization, whereas the only treatment for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is cardiac transplantation.