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Beyond ultrasound: advances in multimodality cardiac imaging

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Abstract

The rapid technological evolution accomplished in noninvasive cardiac imaging techniques over the past few decades has provided physicians with a large armamentarium for the evaluation of patients with known or suspected coronary heart disease. Noninvasive assessment of coronary artery calcium or noninvasive coronary angiography may be performed using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. These techniques evaluate the presence of atherosclerosis rather than ischemia. Conversely, nuclear cardiology is the most widely used noninvasive approach for the assessment of myocardial perfusion and function. These techniques coupled with the development of dedicated image fusion software packages to merge data sets from different modalities have paved the way for hybrid imaging. This article provides a description of the available noninvasive imaging techniques in the assessment of coronary anatomy, myocardial perfusion, and cardiac function in patients with known or suspected coronary heart disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Carmela Nappi & Alberto Cuocolo

  2. Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Council of Research, Naples, Italy

    Wanda Acampa & Teresa Pellegrino

  3. Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Mario Petretta

Authors
  1. Carmela Nappi
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  2. Wanda Acampa
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  3. Teresa Pellegrino
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  4. Mario Petretta
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  5. Alberto Cuocolo
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Correspondence to Alberto Cuocolo.

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Nappi, C., Acampa, W., Pellegrino, T. et al. Beyond ultrasound: advances in multimodality cardiac imaging. Intern Emerg Med 10, 9–20 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-014-1106-3

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