The best of nuclear cardiology and MRI in 2005

: The literature concerning nuclear cardiology and cardiac MRI has been particularly rich in the fields of diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic evaluation of coronary artery disease and cardiac failure. Almost 18 million 'conventional' myocardial scintigraphies (SPECT-single photon emission tomography, or TEM: tomography by monophotonic emission in French) are routinely performed worldwide each year. Nuclear cardiology represents the 3rd scientific domain of application for scintigraphy, after oncology and neurology. The advent of new conventional gamma cameras and PET (positron emission tomography) combined with CT will allow considerable improvement in the quality of investigation in obese or tri-truncal patients and women. We will limit ourselves to original clinical studies, based on scintigraphical techniques or magnetic resonance imaging, applied to the classic cardiological themes: myocardial infarction and ischaemia, cardiomyopathy and cardiac failure. We will also consider the new directions in nuclear cardiology regarding a new tracer and some innovative technology: rubidium-82 and TEP-CT.