From Basic Cardiac Imaging to Image Fusion: Core Competencies Versus Technological Progress

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 pathology 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, it is explained how appropriate multimodality integration can reduce the patient's exposure to ionizing radiation. 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.

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.