Targeted agents for wall imaging

MRI is an increasingly important diagnostic tool for cardiovascular pathology, with the ability to assess ventricular wall motion, myocardial perfusion and viability, coronary artery disease, and the function of the cardiac valves. However, MR imaging is primarily used for diagnosis of functional abnormalities, which do not occur until relatively late in disease processes (often after irreversible tissue damage has occurred). Molecular imaging allows observation of disease processes as they occur, before functional abnormalities become apparent. Not only does it hold great promise for early and more accurate diagnoses but it also enables direct observation of therapeutic efficacy in individual patients, allowing optimization of the treatment regimen for each person. Furthermore, by allowing direct observation of physiological processes at the molecular level, molecular imaging enables longitudinal study of disease biochemistry.