Contemporary cardiac imaging: an overview.

Comprehensive cardiac assessment embraces virtually every imaging modality and includes information about coronary vascular anatomy as well as cardiac morphology, function, perfusion, metabolism, and tissue characterization. Through sophisticated computer processing and image analysis, newer imaging technologies such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), MR spectroscopy, and positron emission tomography now provide quantitative information that may obviate more invasive angiographic assessment. Currently, no single imaging technology realizes all questions relating to cardiac form and function, and many of the technologies overlap in the content and quality of information they provide. This overview seeks to provide a broad perspective on current cardiac imaging, articulating the benefits of various technologies and their limitations.