Cardiac Imaging 2015: A Selection of Topical Issues

ABSTRACT

This year, developments in cardiac imaging were marked by the publication of new guidelines. The recommendations on cardiac chamber quantification and the consensuses on the assessment of patients with hypertension and patients with cancer reinforced the value of deformation parameters.

There were also developments in the role of imaging in endocarditis guidelines, in the assessment of the critically ill patient, and in the recommendations on transesophageal echocardiography and diagnosis of aortic disease.

Three-dimensional echocardiography was deemed a key technique in the anatomical and functional quantification of the different cardiac structures. Computed tomography extended its scope from the diagnosis of coronary artery disease to structural intervention.

Stress cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was established as an excellent technique for the diagnosis of ischemia. In the field of nuclear medicine, the use of hybrid imaging emerged as an alternative to conventional techniques for the diagnosis of coronary disease and prosthetic valve endocarditis or endocarditis affecting cardiac implantable devices.

CITATION  Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed). 2015 Dec 30. pii: S1885-5857(15)00424-7. doi: 10.1016/j.rec.2015.10.003.