Cardiac Imaging Update 2017 by GN Mahapatra and PC Manoria and Diwakar Jain, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers

Section 1—Cardiac Imaging is devoted to noninvasive imaging. For echocardiography, it focuses on the major areas of strength with chapters on endocarditis, aortic stenosis, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy. From the technological standpoint, recent developments in speckle tracking are covered in a separate chapter. A chapter covers the applications of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), while another discusses the relative roles of CMR and cardiac CT. The book then delves deeply into recent developments on the use of nuclear scanning for assessment of the patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease and myocardial viability. Regarding SPECT and PET, a chapter covers how myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with these methods, is applied. Specifically, regarding PET, a chapter deals with rubidium-82 for MPI, which can be performed without the need for a cyclotron at a facility, which is dealing with the added value of quantitative myocardial perfusion reserve with PET MPI tracers. How myocardial viability imaging with PET combined with SPECT—an approach that could be widely available—can be performed even in sites that do not have access to a PET perfusion tracer, by combining the use of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for metabolism, the standard PET tracer used for assessing cancer, with the standard SPECT agents that are used for MPI. This is followed by a chapter which that on the question as to how myocardial viability imaging applies to clinical practice, an area of controversy given the results of recent multicenter trials. Two chapters explore novel tracers and their evolution. The potential application of assessing cardiac dyssynchrony with nuclear medicine procedures and their possible applications in guiding cardiac resynchronization therapy, is also covered. The book then explores invasive approaches used for assessment of coronary plaque and flow physiology. In Section 2—Clinical Cardiology, consideration of several areas of current interest in cardiology outside of imaging, is explored. Overall, clinicians performing cardiac imaging as well as those who utilize these techniques in practice, will find the book very useful to provide a comprehensive update of the status of the clinical applications of the imaging approaches as well as an update of important issues of clinical cardiology.

• It is a unique blend of cardiovascular diagnostic and prognostic imaging and the appropriateness of clinical and procedural management

• Covers the full range of clinical cardiac imaging and its applications, focussing on how the information derived can be used in clinical decision-making and patient management as well as current topics in clinical cardiology

• Focuses on its major areas of strength with chapters on endocarditis, aortic stenosis, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy; covers the recent developments in speckle tracking; the applications of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)

• Discusses the relative roles of CMR and cardiac CT

• Explores invasive approaches to assessment of coronary plaque and flow physiology

• Provides a comprehensive update of the status of the clinical applications of the imaging approaches as well as an update of important issues of clinical cardiology

• Serves as a soapbox to encourage the development of an integrated cardiovascular imaging subspecialty.