Cardiovascular nuclear medicine emerged 15 years ago as a new noninvasive technique for the detection of human cardiac disease. It arised from the fields of nuclear medicine and cardiology and the cooperation of both specialties has been very productive. At present, nuclear cardiology techniques belong to the routine armamentarium of the clinical cardiologist. Results obtained by perfusion markers, metabolic tracers, and radionuclide angiography have shown to have important impact on patient management. Although exercise electrocardiography and echocar diography yield the large bulk of necessary data in the cardiac patient, nuclear cardiology provides important data that go far beyond the results obtained by the standard procedures. Magnetic resonance imaging is a relative newcomer in cardio logy and has still to prove its value in clinical cardiology . Yet, initial results have been encouraging both in congenital heart disease and in coronary artery disease. This book is based on 16 review publications that have been written throughout the period of 1985 till present time. Most chapters have been published in the period 1989 until 1991; the preceding review papers have been updated as much as possible. Furthermore, Chapter 15 entitled" What's new in cardiac imaging" has been espe cially written for this book. The Chapters 9, 11 and 13 have been recently written and have not been published yet.

In recent years there have been major advances in the fields of cardiovascular nuclear medicine and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. In nuclear cardiology more adequate tomographic systems have been designed for routine cardiac use, as well as new or improved quantitative analytic software packages both for planar and tomographic studies implemented on modern state-of-the-art workstations. In addition, artificial intelligence techniques are being applied to these images in attempts to interpret the nuclear studies in a more objective and reproducible manner. Various new radiotracers have been developed, such as antimyosin, labeled isonitriles, metabolic compounds, etc. Furthermore, alternative stress testing with dipyridamole and dobutamine has received much attention in clinical cardiac practice. Magnetic resonance imaging is a relative newcomer in cardiology and has already shown its merits, not only for anatomical information but increasingly for the functional aspects of cardiac performance. This book covers almost every aspect of quantitative cardiovascular nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging. It will assist the nuclear medicine physician, the radiologist, the physicist/image processing specialist and the clinical cardiologist in understanding the nuclear medicine techniques used in cardiovascular medicine, and in increasing our knowledge of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Provides state-of-the-art coverage of CMR technologies and guidelines, including basic principles, imaging techniques, ischemic heart disease, right ventricular and congenital heart disease, vascular and pericardium conditions, and functional cardiovascular disease. Includes new chapters on non-cardiac pathology, pacemaker safety, economics of CMR, and guidelines as well as new coverage of myocarditis and its diagnosis and assessment of prognosis by cardiovascular magnetic resonance, and the use of PET/CMR imaging of the heart, especially in sarcoidosis. Features more than 1,100 high-quality images representing today’s CMR imaging. Covers T1, T2 and ECV mapping, as well as T2* imaging in iron overload, which has been shown to save lives in patients with thalassaemia major Discusses the cost-effectiveness of CMR.

The significantly updated second edition of this important work provides an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), a rapidly evolving tool for diagnosis and intervention of cardiovascular disease. New and updated chapters focus on recent applications of CMR such as electrophysiological ablative treatment of arrhythmias, targeted molecular MRI, and T1 mapping methods. The book presents a state-of-the-art compilation of expert contributions to the field, each examining normal and pathologic anatomy of the cardiovascular system as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Functional techniques such as myocardial perfusion imaging and assessment of flow velocity are emphasized, along with the exciting areas of artherosclerosis plaque imaging and targeted MRI. This cutting-edge volume represents a multi-disciplinary approach to the field, with contributions from experts in cardiology, radiology, physics, engineering, physiology and biochemistry, and offers new directions in noninvasive imaging. The Second Edition of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging is an essential resource for cardiologists and radiologists striving to lead the way into the future of this important field.

Nuclear Cardiac Imaging is the definitive resource for nuclear cardiologists and nuclear clinicians on the technical, physiological, diagnostic, and prognostic considerations of cardiac diagnostic techniques performed with the aid of radiopharmaceuticals. New to the sixth edition are additional updated chapters and a Companion Atlas featuring case studies and multiple-choice quizzes that offer readers extra review.

Since the introduction of myocardial perfusion imaging and radionuclide angiography in the mid-seventies, cardiovascular nuclear medicine has undergone an explosive growth. The use of nuclear cardiology techniques has become one of the cornerstones of the noninvasive assessment of coronary artery disease. In the past 15 years major steps have been made from visual analysis to quantitative analysis, from planar imaging to tomographic imaging, from detection of disease to prognosis, and from separate evaluations of perfusion, metabolism, and function to an integrated assessment of myocardial viability. In recent years many more advances have been made in cardiovascular nuclear imaging, such as the development of new imaging agents, reevaluation of existing procedures, and new clinical applications. This book describes the most recent developments in nuclear cardiology and also addresses new contrast agents in MRI. What's New in Cardiac Imaging will assist the clinical cardiologist, the cardiology fellow, the nuclear medicine physician, and the radiologist in understanding the most recent achievements in clinical cardiovascular nuclear imaging.