| Abstract
| - Abstract. The pathophysiologic role of the autonomic nervous system in the development of heart failure was recently recognized. Noninvasive imaging of cardiac autonomic innervation has become available for routine clinical diagnostic using SPECT in combination with 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine. Positron emission tomography represents an alternative imaging modality with superior spatial resolution, allowing for sophisticated tracer approaches to various presynaptic and postsynaptic binding sites but is limited however, to few academic centers. The present review addresses the experimental and clinical experience with neuronal imaging in congestive heart failure. The clinical implications of these imaging findings are discussed. Present developments and future directions concerning the clinical application of available tracers, as well as the evaluation of new radiolabeled compounds for different sites of the autonomic nervous system and their significance for heart failure research, are presented.
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