Nuclear Cardiology

Dr. Kenneth Brown has published extensively in the field of nuclear cardiology as a principle investigator of original research as well as in reviews, editorials and textbooks.  He was among the first to publish data showing that nuclear imaging predicts future cardiac events and has been a major contributor to the medical literature that has established the clinical utility of nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging for defining cardiac risk in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

This work has had a major impact in the practice of cardiology by allowing physicians to be selective in deciding which patients to send to invasive procedures and revascularization.  His ongoing research interests include the use of nuclear imaging to identify high and low risk patients treated with implantable defibrillators, the use of an adenosine challenge test to determine the vasodilator responsiveness of patients recently exposed to caffeine, and the use of nuclear imaging to identify patients with diabetes mellitus who are at risk for restenosis, progression of disease and for future cardiac events following coronary revascularization.

Recent Grant Support

Bristol Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Company
Support Grant 1999- Principal Investigator:  "Relationship of scar or ischemia to defined by stress technetium 99m sestamibi imaging to risk of high grade ventricular arrhythmia in patients with automatic implantable cardiac defibrillators". 

Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Company
Support Grant  2003- Assessment Of Responsiveness To Vasodilator Stress In Patients Exposed To Recent Caffeine Ingestion:  Relationship Of Adenosine Challenge Sensitivity To Serum Caffeine Levels And Time From Ingestion

Representative Publications

Brown KA.  Prognostic value of myocardial perfusion imaging:  state-of-the-art and new developments.  J Nucl Cardiol 1996; 3:516-537.

Brown KA.  Do stress echocardiography and myocardial perfusion imaging have the same ability to identify the low risk patient with known or suspected coronary artery disease?  Am J Cardiol 1998; 81:1050-1053.

Beller GA, Brown KA. The VANQUISH Trial:  Support for the noninvasive strategy for risk stratification after acute myocardial infarction.  J Nucl Cardiol 1998; 6:634-642.

Brown KA, Heller GV, Landin RJ, Shaw LJ, Beller GA, Pasquale MJ, Haber SB.  Early Dipyridamole Tc99m-sestamibi SPECT imaging 2-4 days after acute myocardial infarction predicts in-hospital and post-discharge cardiac events:  comparison with submaximal exercise imaging.  Circulation 1999; 100:2060-2066.

Brown KA.  Prognosis in stable coronary artery disease.  In:  Zaret BL, Beller GA, eds., Nuclear Cardiology:  state-of-the-art and future directions (2nd edition).  Mosby Year Book, Inc., St. Louis, 1999

Rodgers GP, Ayanian JZ, Balady G, Beasley JW, Brown KA, Gervino EV, Paridon S, Quinones M, Schlant RC.  American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association/American College of Physicians Clinical Competency Statement on Stress Testing.   Circulation 2000; 102:1726-38.

Brown KA, Rosman DR, Dave RM.  Stress nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging versus stress echocardiography:  prognostic comparisons.  Progress Cardiovasc Disease 2000; 43:231-244.

Brown KA. Risk stratification: stress myocardial perfusion imaging.  In:  Rutherford JD.  5th Adult Clinical Cardiology Self-Assessment Program of the American College of Cardiology (ACCSAP V): Chronic coronary artery disease. American College of Cardiology, Bethesda, MD, 2002

Brown KA. Risk assessment in CAD: Suspected CAD/Known Stable CAD. In: Iskandrian AE, Verani MS.  Nuclear Cardiac Imaging Principles and Applications, 3rd Edition.  Oxford University Press, New York, 2003.

Brown KA.  Nuclear Cardiology.  In: Theroux P. Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease.  Harcourt Publishing (In press).