Clinical Phenotyping of Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis with Bone-Seeking Radiotracers in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Abstract

Purpose of review: The two most common types of cardiac amyloidosis are caused by fibril deposits of immunoglobulin light chains (AL) and transthyretin (TTR), each with distinct prognosis and clinical management. Cardiac amyloidosis is under-recognized among heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Bone-seeking tracers like ^99mTc-PYP and ^99mTc-DPD have long been used to identify cardiac amyloidosis, and more recently, to differentiate TTR from AL cardiac amyloidosis in symptomatic patients. However, results are mainly derived from single-center retrospective studies, with comparable but not standardized imaging protocols and interpretation criteria.

Recent findings: The clinical scope of cardiac amyloidosis among HFpEF patients and current literature supporting the use of bone-seeking tracers for TTR cardiac amyloidosis are presented. The differences of imaging techniques for cardiac amyloid and bone disease evaluation, bone tracer pharmacodynamics, and imaging interpretation criteria for cardiac amyloidosis diagnosis are discussed. Finally, a diagnostic algorithm to use bone scintigraphy in cardiac amyloidosis diagnosis among HFpEF patients is proposed. Bone scintigraphy with ^99mTc-PYP or ^99mTc-DPD can be a useful tool with high sensitivity and specificity for detecting TTR-related cardiac amyloidosis in patients with HFpEF. It is needed to standardize the imaging protocol and interpretation criteria and to perform prospective clinical studies.

Keywords: 99mTc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (99mTc-DPD); 99mTc-pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP); Amyloidosis; Bone scintigraphy; Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; Light chain; Transthyretin.