TY - JOUR T1 - Imaging the heart in pulmonary hypertension: an update JF - European Respiratory Review JO - EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW SP - 653 LP - 664 DO - 10.1183/16000617.0058-2015 VL - 24 IS - 138 AU - Ekkehard GrĂ¼nig AU - Andrew J. Peacock Y1 - 2015/12/01 UR - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/24/138/653.abstract N2 - Noninvasive imaging of the heart plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of pulmonary hypertension (PH), and several well-established techniques are available for assessing performance of the right ventricle, the key determinant of patient survival. While right heart catheterisation is mandatory for establishing a diagnosis of PH, echocardiography is the most important screening tool for early detection of PH. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is also a reliable and practical tool that can be used as part of the diagnostic work-up. Echocardiography can measure a range of haemodynamic and anatomical variables (e.g. pericardial effusion and pulmonary artery pressure), whereas CMRI provides complementary information to echocardiography via high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging. Together with echocardiography and CMRI, techniques such as high-resolution computed tomography and positron emission tomography may also be valuable for screening, monitoring and follow-up assessments of patients with PH, but their clinical relevance has yet to be established. Technological advances have produced new variants of echocardiography, CMRI and positron emission tomography, and these permit closer examination of myocardial architecture, motion and deformation. Integrating these new tools into clinical practice in the future may lead to more precise noninvasive determination of diagnosis, risk and prognosis for PH.Imaging techniques are essential tools for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with pulmonary hypertension http://ow.ly/TI8cQ ER -