Noninvasive Imaging of Myocardial Ischemia

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Non-invasive imaging plays a very important role in the assessment of patients investigated for coronary artery disease, providing valuable information for diagnosis and aiding management decisions. It covers a broad spectrum of investigations including radionuclide imaging, echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Progress towards the most efficacious means of assessing a patient is relentless, with recent years seeing an important shift in emphasis from invasive to noninvasive techniques. This informative book compares the various modalities in a practical diagnostic environment. It thus provides a forum for fertile discussion, bringing the discussion of these various methodologies together in one reference for the first time. The narrative flow is unique and will ensure that all levels of medical practitioners with an interest in cardiac imaging will find this an unparalleled resource for use in guiding their practice. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Despite advances and new developments in primary and secondary prevention, the prevalence of the disease and its complications remain high. Early detection has been shown to reduce significantly the risk of cardiac events such as myocardial infarction and death, while modern cardiology now provides specialists and general physicians with a variety of procedures for the assessment of IHD using noninvasive methods. This book reviews the currently available imaging techniques for the diagnosis and management of IHD. In addition, the role of cardiac imaging for the detection of viability and hibernation is discussed in detail.