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Amyloidosis is a disease characterized by the extracellular deposition of the protein amyloid. It is a multiorgan disease, and cardiac involvement is not uncommon, generally in the form of a restrictive cardiomyopathy. Typical aspects of cardiac amyloidosis have been described at echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In particular, the relative apical sparing at two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography has been reported to be specific for cardiac amyloidosis. In our case, we report for the first time that this echocardiographic sign is related to lack of hyperenhancement at late gadolinium enhancement imaging in cardiac MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the paper "Left Ventricular Volumes, Mass and Function Normalized to the Body Surface Area, Age and Gender from CMR in a Large Cohort of Well-treated Thalassemia Major Patients Without Myocardial Iron Overload," by Antonella Meloni and colleagues from the 2011 SCMR/Euro CMR Joint Scientific Sessions in Nice, France from February 3-6, 2011 is presented.

Infective endocarditis is an increasingly common disease in the hospital setting. Although the 2015 guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology deal extensively with many aspects of infective endocarditis, there are still unsolved problems related to diagnosis, in particular to the appropriate use of cardiac imaging methods, that require further study. The aim of this review is to analyze the advantages and limitations of the echocardiographic, radiological and nuclear imaging methods in order to identify diagnostic pathways applicable in clinical practice.

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.

Aims: Assessment of left ventricular (LV) transmural scar tissue in clinical practice is still challenging because magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear techniques have limited access and cannot be performed extensively. The aim of this study was to verify whether parametric two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) can more accurately localize and quantify LV transmural scar tissue in patients with healed myocardial infarct (MI) in comparison with MRI., Methods and Results: Thirty-one consecutive patients (age 56 ± 32 years, 29 males) with MRI and echocardiography performed after at least 6 months from an acute MI were studied. Apical LV longitudinal strain images by 2D-STE and short-axis contrast images by MRI were analysed to generate parametric bull's eye maps showing the distribution of the LV transmural scar tissue, whose extension was measured by planimetry and expressed as a percentage of the total myocardial area. Twelve patients also had early 2D-STE and MRI examinations after the acute MI. 2D-STE accurately quantified the extent of transmural scar tissue vs. MRI (r = 0.86; limits of agreement 10.0 and -9.5%). Concordance between 2D-STE and MRI for transmural scar tissue localization was high, with only 3.6% of discordant segments using an LV 16-segment model. Lin coefficients, intra-class correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman analysis showed very good intra- and inter-observer reproducibility for 2D-STE evaluations. The transmural scar tissue area at 6 months could be predicted by early 2D-STE evaluation., Conclusion: 2D-STE polar plots of LV longitudinal strain characterize transmural scar tissue accurately compared with MRI and may facilitate its assessment in clinical practice., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2015. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Multimodal imaging plays a pivotal role in the assessment of the thoracic aorta, both in chronic and acute settings. Moving from improved knowledge on the structure and function of the aortic wall, as well as on its pathophysiology and histopathology, appropriate utilization of each imaging modality results into a better definition of the patient's need and proper treatment strategy. This review is aimed at highlighting the most critical aspects in this field, providing cardiologists with some novel clues for the imaging approach to patients with thoracic aortic disease.

Isolated left ventricular noncompaction in adults is uncommon. The most frequent clinical manifestations are heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction and supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias, which may be sustained and associated with sudden death. Thromboembolic complications are also possible. We report the case of an adult patient with isolated left ventricular noncompaction who came to our observation because of acute cerebral ischemia, an initial presentation of the disease only rarely described.

In the last 30 years the development and widespread use of modern imaging techniques has caused a 20-time increase in the diagnosis of adrenal incidentaloma (AI). Among AIs myelolipoma (ML) is reported with a frequency up to 10%. In the literature 8 patients with adrenal masses in thalassaemia or chronic haemolytic anaemia have been reported: five cases were shown to have extramedullary haematopoiesis (EH) and 3 ML. We describe here a case of an adult male affected by beta thalassaemia intermedia and large bilateral lipomatous adrenal masses. The patient was referred to our ward at the age of 55 and underwent hormonal testing, MRI, and SPECT/CT scans. Adrenal masses were hormonally inactive, and fat-containing on MRI and CT scans. SPECT/CT examination with 99mTccolloid demonstrated the presence of marrow tissue. ML and EH are the only two tumours with marrow tissue among lipomatous adrenal masses. In our patient a brown nodular mass was resected and histologically classified as ML. In benign adrenal masses, radiological follow-up is indicated; in case of large bilateral masses adrenal function tests are suggested periodically in order to detect possible adrenal hypofunction.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a therapeutic option with proven efficacy in improving symptoms and reducing both hospitalization and mortality in patients with refractory heart failure. However, a significant number of patients do not respond to CRT and this may be due to incomplete or inappropriate selection and characterization of patients before pacemaker implant. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is an imaging technique that may assist cardiologists in this regard. This technique has the potential to improve the success rate of CRT, due to pre-interventional evaluation of left ventricular function, mechanical dyssynchrony, and characterization and quantification of scar tissue. Recently, venous coronary anatomy has also been successfully evaluated by CMRI. In this review the role of CMRI in patients with heart failure who are candidates for CRT is discussed and potential future developments are indicated.