Bruce Spottiswoode has a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering on cardiac MRI from the University of Cape Town. He has worked on developing electronics for the CSIR, on MRI image reconstruction for Siemens, and on X-ray imaging for Lodox Systems. He is currently the Director of the Cape Universities Brain Imaging Centre. His c...

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, including cardiac MR (CMR), is an important, widely used diagnostic tool, and is generally considered a safer alternative to X-ray and radioisotope imaging where there is a clear relationship between exposure to ionizing radiation and increased cancer risk. MR imaging exposes the patient to a mixture of static magnetic fields, time-varying gradient fields, and p...

Recent advances in technology have allowed magnetic resonance imaging to be exploited in cardiology. It is capable of giving high definition structural and functional information. The current applications of this technique and how it may develop in the future are reviewed.

patients and methods we evaluated radiation exposure from initial and downstream testing in a prospectively collected, matched cohort evaluated for cp in the emergency department (ed) with either ccta compared with usual care over a median follow-up of 19.6 months. effective radiation dose was calculated using published conversion factors. results prospective, ecg-triggered acquisition using a ...

Noninvasive cardiac imaging can be used for the diagnostic and prognostic assessment of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. It is central to the treatment of patients with myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, or acute coronary syndromes with or without angina. Radionuclide cardiac imaging; echocardiography; and, increasingly, cardiac computed tomography and card...

Cardiac neurotransmission imaging with SPECT and PET allows in vivo assessment of presynaptic reuptake and neurotransmitter storage as well as of regional distribution and activity of postsynaptic receptors. In this way, the biochemical processes that occur during neurotransmission can be investigated in vivo at a micromolar level using radiolabeled neurotransmitters and receptor ligands. SPECT...

cardiac manifestations of the hydatid cyst are relatively uncommon. cardiac involvement may lead to the compression of vital organs, pulmonary hypertension, pericardial effusion, and even anaphylaxis. a 45-year-old woman presented to the emergency department of tehran heart center with chest pain. cardiac examination revealed relatively muffled heart sounds. echocardiography demonstrated a roun...

The heart is the principal site of involvement in nonhereditary ATTR amyloidosis and a major driver of treatment options and prognosis in hereditary forms of the disease. The goals of cardiac imaging in amyloidosis are to aid diagnosis, provide prognostic information, track disease progression and evaluate response to therapy. Echocardiography has long been the mainstay of cardiac evaluation in...

The ability to make informed benefit-risk assessments for potentially cardiotoxic new compounds is of considerable interest and importance at the public health, drug development, and individual patient levels. Cardiac imaging approaches in the evaluation of drug-induced myocardial dysfunction will likely play an increasing role. However, the optimal choice of myocardial imaging modality and the...

BACKGROUND Cardiac tumours are very uncommon and are the topic of little investigation. Imaging features offer reliable diagnostic evidence for cardiac tumours, but diagnostic confusion may arise when tumours with similar features are present. METHODS Between January 2003 and July 2008, 34 patients were operated on for cardiac tumours in this institute. The patients' ages ranged from 31 to 81...