Noninvasive methods for heart imaging and their role in chronic heart failure

Abstract:

Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common causes of hospitalization, morbidity and mortality of the population, with a continuous increase in prevalence. Cardiovascular imaging has a central role in the management of therapeutic procedures in patients with HF, evaluation of etiology and prediction of clinical outcome. Through this, one is able to obtain valuable clinical information for assessing the left ventricle, its structure, function and volume, directing the therapeutic care toward the pharmacological treatment, implementation of sophisticated medical devices or surgical treatment. Even though echocardiography is the method of choice due to its wide availability, good safety profile and low cost, there is a satisfactory number of additional diagnostic methods which are used in collaboration with other disciplines, such as: positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), magnetic resonance imaging of the heart (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). 

Key words:
cardiac resynchronization therapy; heart failure; myocardial viability; noninvasive cardiovascular imaging