Table 3.

Comparison of different cardiovascular imaging modalities for the management of cardiomyopathies

	TTE	CMR	SPECT/PET	CT
Cardiac morphology and function
Chamber volumes	+  +	+  +  +	+	+  +
Wall thickness	+  +	+  +  +	-	+  +
Systolic function	+  +	+  +  +	+	+
Diastolic function	+  +  +	+  +	+	+
Myocardial mechanics	+  +	+  +  +	-	+
Myocardial tissue characterization
Fibrosis	+	+  +  +	+	+  + (CT-DE)
Inflammation	-	+  +  +	+  +  + (FDG-PET)	+
Amyloidosis	+	+  +  +	+  +  +	-
Ischaemia/CAD	+  + (stress)	+  +  + (stress)	+  +  + (stress)	+  +  + (CCTA/stress)
Myocardial metabolism	-	+  + (MRS)	+  +  +	-
Myocardial innervation	-	-	+++(MIBG)	-
Valvular assessment
Valve morphology	+  +  +	+  +	- +  +
Cardiac haemodynamics	+  +  +	+	–
Valvular stenosis	+  +  +	+	- +
Valvular regurgitation	+  +  +	+  +	- +
Pericardial assessment Effusion/tamponade	+  +  +	+  +  +	-	+  +
Inflammation	-	+  +  +	+  + (FDG-PET)	+  +
Constriction	+	+  +  +	-	+  +
Technical characteristics Availability	+  +  +	+	+	+  +
Fast acquisition	+  +  +	-	-	+  +
Spatial resolution (mm)	0.5–2	1–2	4–8(PET)/5–15(SPECT)	0.5
Temporal resolution (ms)	< 10	20–50	100–300	80–135
Feasibility in patients with severe renal failure	+  +  +	+	+  +  +	-
arrhythmias	+  +  +	+	+  +	+
pacemaker/defibrillators	+  +  +	+	+  +  +	+  +
claustrophobia	+  +  +	+	+  +	+  +
obesity	+	+  +	+  +	+  +  +
COPD	+	+  +  +	+  +  +	+  +  +
pregnancy	+  +  +	+  +	-	-

CAD, coronary artery disease; CCTA, coronary computed tomography angiography; CMR, cardiac magnetic resonance; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CT, computed tomography; CT-DE, delayed enhancement at CT; FDG, fluoro-deoxy-glucose; MIBG, meta-iodo-benzyl-guanidine; MRS, magnetic resonance spectroscopy; PET, positron emission tomography; SPECT, single-photon emission computed tomography; TTE, transthoracic echocardiography