For the Future of Nuclear Cardiology and JSNC

I became the chairperson of the Japanese Society of Nuclear Cardiology (JSNC) in June 2024. This society was established in 1998, and I have been a member from the beginning. Both cardiologists and radiologists were engaged in organizing the framework of the JSNC, and it had a position of affiliated society of both the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS) and the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine (JSNM). In the earliest years, JSNC annual meeting was held twice a year in spring and autumn sharing meeting dates and venues with JCS and JSNM. In other words, the JSNC was not allowed to have its own annual meeting until the 15^th assembly held in March, 2006. At that time there was a strict agreement between cardiologists and radiologists to equally share positions of the president, congress president, board members, and so on.

However, in recent years, such “barriers” are being removed and mature environment is being organized in which members cooperatively act for the progress of nuclear cardiology regardless of their background. I hope such atmosphere will be maintained towards the future.

Nuclear cardiology has played an important role as an indicator of functional myocardial ischemia for a long time. This role is becoming more important for the appropriate indication of coronary intervention in view of the cost-effective medical management. Nuclear cardiology is also an important tool to visualize the functional status of the heart in the living human in view of metabolism, nerve activity, integrity of receptors and transporters, and so on. I think the essential roles of society members is to understand these outstanding features of nuclear cardiology and to send information and messages to the communities of medical professionals and the public.

In addition to coronary artery disease, its applications to other conditions recently attract much attention, including the use in diagnosing cardiac amyloidosis and sarcoidosis. Committees in JSNC are now revising the guidelines of the diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis and organizing WG statements about PYP scintigraphy. Such kinds of activities are crucial not only for the diagnosis and management of diseases but also to augment the values of nuclear cardiology and our society. The JSNC has 9 committees and other ad hoc working groups, and each is active to achieve our goals.

Recruitment of young members are indispensable for the future of JSNC. Regional educational program has played significant roles in this regard. Also in the future, we will give weight to the development of educational systems. Moreover, recent significant advances in science and technology surrounding our clinical practice will be attractive to our young colleagues. We will be able to obtain images of excellent quality and improvement in quantitative measurement thanks to the development of brand-new imaging devices and radiopharmaceuticals. For example, ¹⁸F-labeled myocardial perfusion tracer for PET imaging will provide more accurate diagnoses based on improved qualitative and quantitative image interpretation. Another important role of the society is to support the introduction and spread of such kinds of new tracers and imaging devices.

We would like to see the wonderful future of nuclear cardiology with the evolution of JSNC.