Cardiac Imaging

While cardiac ultrasound is the widely used imaging modality for heart assessments, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear imaging are also used and are often complimentary, each offering specific details about the heart other modalities cannot. For this reason the clinical question being asked often determines the imaging test that will be used.

CMR of a patient showing evidence of myocardial hypertrophy

Cardiac MRI findings linked with worse outcomes in hypertension patients

Nonischemic LGE was revealed to be independently associated with worse outcomes in hypertension patients. 

July 21, 2022
Left, coronary CT angiography of a vessel showing plaque heavy calcium burden. Right, image showing color code of various types of plaque morphology showing the complexity of these lesions. The right image was processed using the FDA cleared, AI-enabled plaque assessment from Elucid.

Cardiac CT soft plaque assessment may offer paradigm shift for coronary disease screening

New artificial intelligence software that can evaluate coronary CT scans to automatically assess soft plaques were by far the biggest technology advance discussed at the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) 2022 meeting. 

July 20, 2022
Organs

New PET imager cleared for U.S. sales

A Canadian manufacturer of positron emission tomography equipment has received FDA’s OK to market a small-footprint scanner that images targeted organs bearing radiotracers at close range.

July 20, 2022
Eric Williamson, MD, MSCCT, the 2021-2022 president of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) and professor of radiology at Mayo Clinic, shares his key takeaways from the SCCT 2022 conference. #SCCT #SCCT2022 #yesCCT

VIDEO: Top 6 takeaways from the Society of Cardiovascular CT 2022 meeting

Eric Williamson, MD, MSCCT, the 2021-2022 president of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) and professor of radiology at Mayo Clinic, shared his key takeaways from the SCCT 2022 conference. 

July 19, 2022
Examples of new plaque reporting in the CAD-RADS 2.0 document. Left, an example from CAD-RADS 2 / P2 plaque burden with mild coronary stenosis (25-49%). Right, example of a CAD-RADS 5/ P3, with a focal, non-calcified occlusion of the proximal RCA (arrow) and severe amount of plaque (P3). #CADRADS #YesCCT #CTA #CCTA

New CAD-RADS 2.0 reporting for coronary CTA offers patient management recommendations

The document includes updated classification to established a framework for stenosis, plaque burden and plaque modifiers, including assessment of CT-FFR or myocardial CT perfusion.

July 8, 2022
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Big private payer reverses course on cardiac PET/CT coverage

One of the largest private health insurers in the U.S. has gone from considering hybrid PET/CT for cardiac indications “experimental/investigational” to displaying willingness to pay for the modality. 

July 1, 2022
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) has responded to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recommendation that all infants and young children who receive iodinated contrast media (ICM) undergo thyroid testing. The group pushed back against this proposal, emphasizing that implementation would have “far-reaching consequences.”

Cardiologists push back on FDA’s thyroid monitoring/contrast media proposal

According to a new SCAI statement, the FDA's recommendation would result in "far-reaching consequences" across multiple specialties. 

June 24, 2022
U.S. News & World Report children’s hospitals cardiology heart surgery

Lower doses, faster acquisitions: Experts share how to improve PET scans for peds

This week in AJR, experts shared how they were able to reduce FDG PET scan acquisition times by 33%, thus reducing the amount of total radiation exposure to more vulnerable pediatric patients. 

June 22, 2022

Around the web

Automated AI-generated measurements combined with annotated CT images can improve treatment planning and help referring physicians and patients better understand their disease, explained Sarah Jane Rinehart, MD, director of cardiac imaging with Charleston Area Medical Center.

Two advanced algorithms—one for CAC scores and another for segmenting cardiac chamber volumes—outperformed radiologists when assessing low-dose chest CT scans. 

"Gen AI can help tackle repetitive tasks and provide insights into massive datasets, saving valuable time," Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said Tuesday. 

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