title: Multimodality imaging in pulmonary hypertension.
abstract: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a pathophysiological condition defined as an increase in mean pulmonary artery pressure of ≥ 25 mm Hg at rest. Although right heart catheterization remains an essential step in the diagnostic algorithm-particularly for pulmonary arterial hypertension-noninvasive multimodality imaging plays an important role in defining the cause, assessing outcome, monitoring the efficacy of specific therapeutic interventions, and detecting the preclinical stage of disease. We review the role of multimodality imaging in the evaluation of PH-including echocardiography, chest computed tomography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear imaging-the choice of which depends on individual patient-based indications provided by the clinical team in accordance with current guidelines, also taking into account institutional expertise, patient safety and convenience, and repeatability. Recent advances in cardiac imaging (3-dimensional echocardiography and strain imaging, tissue characterization, and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) may provide new insights into the pathophysiological characteristics of the right heart-pulmonary circulation unit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Milan, Italy; Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital "Scuola Medica Salernitana," Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: ebossone@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bossone
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Ospedale Medico-Chirurgico Accreditato Villa dei Fiori, Acerra (Naples), Italy; Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute/Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Santo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dellegrottaglie
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Division of Cardiothoracic Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Smita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Center of Pulmonary Hypertension, Thoraxclinik at University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ekkehard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grunig
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Sciences, Monaldi Hospital, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Andrea
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital "Scuola Medica Salernitana," Salerno, Italy; Department of Translational Medical Sciences, "Federico II" University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.affiliation: SDN Foundation, Institute of Diagnostic and Nuclear Development, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gargiulo
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Sciences, Monaldi Hospital, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Alto
authors.affiliation: SDN Foundation, Institute of Diagnostic and Nuclear Development, Naples, Italy; Department of Studies of Institutions and Territorial Systems, University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soricelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Translational Medical Sciences, "Federico II" University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cittadini
authors.affiliation: Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute/Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, "Federico II" University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perrone-Filardi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Melvyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubenfire
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000379:methods; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods