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In recent years, lung ultrasonography has acquired an important role as a valuable diagnostic tool in clinical practice. The lung is usually poorly explorable, but it provides more acoustic information in pathological conditions that modify the relationship between air, water and tissues. The different acoustic impedance of all these components makes the chest wall a powerful ultrasound reflector: this is responsible for the creation of several artifacts providing valuable information about lung pathophysiology. Lung ultrasonography helps in the diagnostic process of parenchymal and pleural pathologies, in the differential diagnosis of dyspnea and in the clinical and prognostic evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Nuclear imaging plays a pivotal role not only in in the evaluation of myocardial ischemia, but also in the evaluation of cardiac infectious, inflammatory, infiltrative and innervation disorders. Myocardial ischemia and viability, cardiac amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, large vessel vasculitis, infective endocarditis, infected cardiac implantable electronic devices, vascular graft infection, and myocardial innervation dysfunction are the main indications for the use of nuclear medicine procedures in both diagnosis and response assessment. With this summarized paper we share a comprehensive review of the role and the use of nuclear cardiology in different cardiac diseases.

The integrated clinical, laboratory and ultrasound approach is essential for the diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation of the patient's therapy in COVID-19 pneumonia. The ideal imaging strategy in this setting is not yet well defined. Bedside pulmonary ultrasound presents an undeniable series of advantages in patients at high risk of infection, and can provide incremental data in the respiratory intensive care for the serial control of the individual patient, as well as for home delivery of stabilized patients. Chest X-ray is characterized by low sensitivity in identifying earlier lung changes. Pulmonary computed tomography shows high sensitivity but should not be routinely performed in all patients, because in the first 48 h it can be absolutely negative, and in the late phase imaging findings may not change the therapeutic approach. Echocardiography should be limited to patients with hemodynamic instability.

Acute aortic syndrome includes three main pathological conditions: aortic dissection (AD), intramural hematoma (IMH) and penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU). These are life-threatening conditions, therefore early diagnosis and interventional/surgical treatment are fundamental for the survival of affected individuals. While anatomical findings of classical AD provided by imaging techniques are known to all cardiologists, imaging findings of IMH and PAU are less known, as are their prognostic implications and consequences on management and treatment strategies. This review aims to describe and discuss findings and role of imaging techniques in patients with IMH and PAU.

Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, can lead to cardiac impairment with various types of clinical manifestations, including heart failure and cardiogenic shock. A possible expression of cardiac impairment is non-ischemic ventricular dysfunction, which can be related to different pathological conditions, such as myocarditis, stress and cytokine-related ventricular dysfunction. The diagnosis of these pathological conditions can be challenging during COVID-19; furthermore, their prevalence and prognostic significance have not been elucidated yet. The purpose of this review is to take stock of the various aspects of non-ischemic ventricular dysfunction that may occur during COVID-19 and of the diagnostic implications related to the use of cardiac imaging techniques.

"Athlete's heart" represents a series of mechanisms through which cardiac chambers can adapt to physical activity. Echocardiography has a major role in sports cardiology and it can help physicians to investigate the so-called "grey zones", defined as diagnostic overlaps between athlete's heart and several cardiac diseases: wall thickness and left ventricular size in hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy, ventricular trabeculations in left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy, left atrial size and atrial fibrillation, right ventricular systolic dysfunction in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. The use of advanced ultrasound methods such as tissue Doppler and two-dimensional strain can be added to the classic echocardiographic assessment to complete a multi-parametric evaluation, guiding the sports physician and cardiologist in the correct framing of these patients.