[Cardiovascular imaging using cardiac computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging]

Noninvasive cardiac imaging using cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has become established as an indispensable diagnostic instrument in modern cardiology for the assessment of cardiovascular diseases. Both techniques are complementary in their diagnostic potential and enable an individualized clinical care, including diagnostic confirmation, prognosis estimation and treatment planning. The use of CCT enables a precise visualization of the coronary vessels, including the detection and quantification of luminal stenosis and additional plaque characterization. It is particularly suitable for the noninvasive clarification of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with a low to moderate pretest probability and for procedural planning in cardiology. The high negative predictive value of CCT enables its use as a gatekeeper for unnecessary invasive diagnostics of CAD. The use of CMRI provides a combination of functional morphological diagnostics with a precise myocardial tissue characterization, which are helpful for the assessment of CAD, inflammatory heart diseases and cardiomyopathies. Due to the possibility to quantify myocardial damage, CMRI has a high prognostic value. The combination of both non-invasive techniques in the present-day modern cardiac diagnostics is essential for guideline-compliant and patient-centered care by the coverage of the broad spectrum of cardiac diseases and the supplementary methods.