Cardiovascular imaging in cardio-oncology

Abstract

Advances in cancer treatment have improved in patient survival rate. On the other hand, management of cardiovascular complications has been increasingly required in cancer patients. Thus, cardio-oncology has attracted the attention by both oncologists and cardiologists. Cardiovascular imaging has played a key role for non-invasive assessment of cardiovascular alterations complimentary to biomarkers and clinical assessment. Suitable imaging selection and interpretation may allow early diagnosis of cardiovascular injury with potential implications for therapeutic management and improved outcomes after cancer therapy. Echocardiography has been commonly used to evaluate cardiac dysfunction in cardio-oncology area. Cardiac CT is valuable for assessing structural abnormalities of the myocardium, coronary arteries, and aorta. Molecular imaging has an important role in the assessment of the pathophysiology and future treatment strategy of cardiovascular dysfunction. Cardiac MRI is valuable for characterization of myocardial tissue. PET and SPECT molecular imaging has potential roles for quantitative assessment of cardiovascular disorders. Particularly, FDG-PET is considered as an elegant approach for simultaneous assessment of tumor response to cancer therapy and early detection of possible cardiovascular involvement as well. This review describes the promising potential of these non-invasive cardiovascular imaging modalities in cardio-oncology.