The recent development of three-dimensional imaging techniques has provided an enormous amount of information relevant to the clinical management of patients at low and high risk for coronary artery disease. However, while progress in each individual technique has been rapid, the correlation of findings obtained with radiology, nuclear medicine, and magnetic resonance imaging is still relatively neglected.

In this book, qualified experts in cardiac imaging present the basic concepts of cardiac disease and imaging and compare the findings obtained in particular subspecialties with those acquired using other techniques. In this way the reader will learn how images and techniques can be integrated in clinical practice to the benefit of the patient.

In addition, the issue is addressed of reducing the patient's exposure to ionizing radiation through appropriate multimodality integration. Physicians ranging from cardiac surgeons to internal medicine specialists and even public health administrators will find this book invaluable in understanding the role of hybrid cardiac imaging.

Autorentext

Paolo Marzullo, MD, FESC, FACC, is Director of the Nuclear Medicine Department at the Monasterio Foundation, Pisa, Italy. Founding member of the European and Italian Working Groups on Nuclear Cardiology, he is author of over 450 publications in the field of cardiac imaging, including cardiac CT and MRI.

Giuliano Mariani, MD, is Full Professor of Nuclear Medicine, Director of the Regional Center of Nuclear Medicine and of the Post-graduate Specialty School in Nuclear Medicine of the University of Pisa Medical School, Pisa, Italy. Starting with pharmacokinetic studies using radioactive tracers in humans his research interests encompass virtually all clinical applications of nuclear medicine for both diagnosis and therapy. Author of over 270 articles published in international peer-reviewed journals, book editor and contributor in the fields of pharmacokinetics with radioactive tracers and diagnostic and therapeutic applications of nuclear medicine.

Inhalt

Cardiac anatomy and pathophysiology of coronary circulation as a basis for imaging.- How should we stress the human heart.- Myocardial perfusion imaging: the role of SPECT, PET, and CMR.- Innervation of the heart: imaging findings using [123I]-MIBG scintigraphy in different pathologies.- How to reduce the radiation burden in Cardiac CT.- How to reduce the radiation burden in Cardiac SPECT.- Will 3D imaging of the heart replace pathology?.- Image fusion and coregistration: state of the (he)art.- Diagnostic algorithms in patients with suspected coronary artery disease: guidelines and evidence-based behaviours.-