Advances In Heart Valve Imaging

Valvular heart diseases (VHD) remain one of the leading causes of heart failure and a decrease in life expectancy. Timely diagnosis and management are of utmost importance for this subgroup of patients. Recent advances in cardiac imaging and transcatheter therapeutic approaches have led to the development of the term “Heart Team” and the new sub-specialty of “interventional Echocardiographer”. Through the routine use of advanced echocardiography (strain and 3D imaging) and all other modalities, such as CT and CMR, we have better recognized the mechanisms of valvular abnormalities and we have provided the option to expand the transcatheter therapies. With this Research Topic, we seek to provide an overview of the latest advances in imaging techniques on Valvular Diseases, such as advanced Echocardiographic tools, Cardiac CT and MR, and PET/CT-PET/MR imaging. We also seek to emphasize how these new techniques can support diagnosis and help treat difficult cases that go beyond our routine and cover the up-to-date imaging approach of the “Heart Team”.