Multimodality imaging: opportunities and challenges.

s the chair of the Cardiovascular Imaging Section, I recently asked the members of the Imaging Council to consider multimodality imaging: its definition and application and the opportunities for tomorrow. The Council is composed of representatives from the American College of Cardiology, the American Society of Echocardiography, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, as well as a pediatric and adult congenital representative, each representing subspecialty imaging perspectives. Since the Council’s inception, members have been focused on the importance of approaching cardiovascular imaging with a multimodality approach and emphasizing the concept of the “right test for the right patient” as a cornerstone of the American College of Cardiology’s patient-centered activities. The discourse sparked by this inquirydof what multimodality imaging is, how it is used today, and where it is going tomorrowdhelped broaden my view of the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for multimodality imaging. The Imaging Council was in agreement that multimodality imaging is the efficient integration of various methods of cardiovascular imaging to improve the ability to diagnose, guide therapy, or predict outcomes. Most imaging modalities are currently used individually, forcing clinicians to choose the single best imaging approach for the situation. To be successful, one must have knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each imaging modality to know which is ideal for any given clinical situation. Because imaging tests are frequently performed in sequence, we sometimes find ourselves ordering a second