Incoming ASNC president wants to expand access to cardiac PET
The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) plans to focus on expanding access to cardiac imaging, advancing research that improves clinical care and strengthening mentorship programs when Andrew Einstein, MD, PhD, officially becomes the group's president in January 2027.
Einstein, a professor of medicine in radiology and director of nuclear cardiology, cardiac CT and cardiac MRI at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, said the society will build on existing efforts to strengthen connections across medical specialties both internationally and on a local level. Another goal is to reach out to rural practices that may have limited access to nuclear cardiology.
“We want to make sure that people have the best resources available to provide the highest quality nuclear cardiology care to their patients,” Einstein said.
A key priority will be helping imaging centers adopt cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) imaging while maintaining high-quality single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) services at facilities where PET is not readily available. Cardiac PET offers several advantages, including strong diagnostic performance for coronary artery disease and quantitative measurements of myocardial blood flow and myocardial blood flow reserve. Einstein said these measurements can provide diagnostic and prognostic information, including insights into conditions affecting the coronary microvasculature.
PET also provides information from CT attenuation-correction scans, including coronary artery calcium scoring, Einstein said. However, the technology remains less widely available than SPECT, which has been the traditional workhorse modality.
ASNC aims to provide resources that help laboratories and hospitals adopt PET while supporting facilities that continue to perform SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging.
The society also plans to emphasize quality across nuclear cardiology, including radionuclide imaging for transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis. This imaging has become a standard approach for diagnosing the disease as new treatment options have emerged.
New radiopharmaceuticals could reshape nuclear cardiology
Einstein expects advances in radiopharmaceuticals to be another major development in 2027, potentially expanding nuclear imaging beyond its traditional reliance on technetium-99m-based SPECT perfusion agents.
He pointed to investigational iodine-124 evuzamitide tracer, which has shown promise in clinical research for identifying transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis, including disease that may not be detected by conventional bone-tracer imaging.
More sensitive detection could help clinicians identify the disease earlier. Quantitative imaging also could become increasingly important as physicians seek to evaluate treatment response and determine whether expensive therapies are benefiting patients.
With existing treatments costing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, Einstein said better ways to monitor response could become increasingly valuable. Additional therapies, including drugs designed to deplete amyloid, are also under investigation.
He expects the nuclear cardiology pipeline to deliver further developments in both PET and SPECT, including new myocardial perfusion agents. Depending on clinical trial results and regulatory decisions, at least one new radiopharmaceutical could be approved in 2027, he said.
The longer-term direction is a more diverse range of imaging agents tailored to specific patient populations and clinical questions, he said.
Multimodality imaging and workforce development
Einstein also emphasized the importance of multimodality imaging, in which clinicians use complementary information from nuclear imaging, CT, MRI and other techniques to guide patient care. ASNC’s approach centers on selecting the appropriate examination for each patient rather than treating one modality as universally preferable. Hybrid PET-CT and SPECT-CT are important examples, combining nuclear imaging with anatomical information from CT.
Mentorship and workforce development will be another priority. Einstein said ASNC will build on programs that connect trainees and early-career professionals with established leaders, including its meet-a-mentor initiative, leadership development program and educational opportunities at the society’s annual meeting.
The goal is to develop the next generation of nuclear cardiology and multimodality imaging specialists while encouraging clinicians at different career stages to remain engaged with the field.
By combining broader access to imaging, technology development, research and professional education, Einstein said ASNC hopes to improve the quality of nuclear cardiology care and ensure the specialty continues to evolve.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: [email protected]