Role of imaging in interventions on structural heart disease

Abstract

Recent technological progresses have led to the development of new devices and procedures which have greatly improved the chance to effectively treat structural heart diseases in both children and adults. Interventional cardiology has been receiving fast and wide implementation as an effective alternative treatment to surgery for several congenital and acquired diseases. The advent of transcatheter valve implantation/repair techniques constitutes one of the main breakthroughs of the last decades. Such development and implementation is strictly related to a continuous progress in cardiac imaging as well. Indeed, multimodality cardiac imaging (such as X-ray, echocardiography, MRI, multidetector computed tomography) has become essential in providing accurate patient selection and in monitoring the interventional procedures in order to optimize the success rate and minimize the frequency of complications. The current article aims at reviewing the role of multimodality imaging for planning and guiding interventions in several structural heart diseases.