Tag Archives: cardiac imaging

Introduction Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is an advanced cardiac imaging modality indicated in the assessment of most common cardiology conditions.1 It is a technique that has become increasingly accessible and utilised in clinical practice. CMR is the gold standard in assessing cardiac chamber volume and function with infinite imaging planes, and is not restricted by body habitus, in contrast to transthoracic echocardiography.2 It also allows the non-invasive assessment of the myocardium through tissue characterisation with delayed enhancement following gadolinium-based contrast agents, and more contemporary techniques, such as pa

Case We present a 31-year-old professional golfer with no significant cardiac medical history, who presented to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in the Summer of 2015. He described palpitations after drinking alcohol the night before. After further investigation he was found to be in atrial fibrillation (AF) with fast ventricular rate (figure 1), and underwent medical cardioversion with bisoprolol and flecainide. His blood results were normal and he was discharged with an outpatient echocardiogram follow-up. Figure 1. 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) showing atrial fibrillation, T-wave inversion II, III, aVf, V5, V6 Transthoracic echocardiogram in Aug

Introduction The use of ionising radiation within cardiology is widespread with both myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) and conventional invasive coronary angiography (CA) being common diagnostic investigations for coronary artery disease. In the UK, some 70,000 MPS were performed in 20001 and over 205,000 CA in 2005.2 The use of ionising radiation is likely to increase further with the advent of cardiac multi-detector X-ray computed tomography (MDCT) and X-ray computed tomographic angiography (CTA). Furthermore, all these investigations are deemed to involve moderate- or high-dose radiation.3 Previous studies have shown poor knowledge o

In recent years technological advances have enabled improvements in both temporal and spatial resolution such that multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) is now able to reproducibly evaluate cardiac disease. The combination of this improved resolution with more advanced post-processing techniques now means that MDCT has the ability to perform both anatomical and functional assessment from the single study. This technique therefore not only provides a non-invasive alternative to conventional angiography but the same data-set allows concurrent assessment of cardiac function, assessment of aberrant vessels, graft patency studies and assessmen

No content available