Advanced cardiovascular multimodal imaging and aortic stenosis.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Valvular Heart Disease
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Aortic valve stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease, driven by an aging population.
• Echocardiography is the primary diagnostic tool but has limitations.
• Advanced imaging techniques are crucial for overcoming these diagnostic challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of current data on advanced cardiovascular multimodal imaging in aortic valve stenosis.
• To highlight the role of these techniques in diagnosis, risk stratification, and guiding treatment.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on advanced cardiovascular imaging modalities for aortic valve stenosis.
• Focus on Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMR) for morphological and functional assessment.
• Inclusion of Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in the evaluation.

Main Results:

• CMR enables comprehensive evaluation of aortic valve morphology and function, including flow assessment via phase-contrast techniques.
• CMR can detect myocardial fibrosis (late gadolinium enhancement, T1-mapping) and assess biomechanics for risk stratification.
• CCT is valuable for diagnosis and preprocedural planning; PET aids in assessing valvular inflammation and calcification.

Conclusions:

• Advanced cardiovascular imaging, particularly CMR, significantly enhances the diagnosis and risk stratification of aortic valve stenosis.
• Multimodal imaging approaches offer complementary information for patient management and procedural guidance.
• Emerging applications in biomechanics and inflammation assessment show promising future directions for aortic valve stenosis evaluation.