The Role of Noninvasive Cardiac Imaging in the Management of Diseases of the Cardiovascular System

The global health and economic burdens of cardiovascular diseases are immense. This chapter summarizes the role of nuclear cardiology in the initial evaluation, diagnosis, and prognosis of cardiovascular diseases. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity all over the world despite the significant reduction of mortality rates in high-income countries. Nuclear cardiology remains the cornerstone of the management of patients with IHD. Cardiac magnetic resonance can provide a wide range of information in patients with known and suspected IHD from diagnosis through guiding therapy to prognosis. The increasing age of the world population and recent advances in the care of IHD have led to a global epidemic of heart failure. Most valvular heart diseases present in heart failure regardless of whether the valve pathology is stenosis or regurgitation. The diseases of the aorta include aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm, and aortitis.