Targeted imaging offers advantages over physiological imaging for evaluation of angiogenic therapy.

A large population of patients suffering from advanced coronary artery disease and chronic myocardial ischemia cannot be adequately managed by a combination of antianginal medication and angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery. Therefore, therapeutic stimulation of vascular growth in the management of chronic myocardial ischemia seems to be a useful strategy in treating such patients. A number of recent clinical trials have examined the role of therapeutic administration of molecular regulators of blood vessel growth to promote vascular development to treat ischemic heart disease (1). The patients eligible for these therapeutic angiogenic trials often have underlying ischemic but viable “hibernating” myocardium, characterized by