International Scholarly Research Notices

Review Article

Imaging Techniques in Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Review

Table 1

ACS imaging modalities.
CostInvasivenessPortabilityTimelinessMain limitations
Echocardiography + + ++++++Poor acoustic windows, low specificity, operator-dependent acquisition, subjective
Computed tomography++ + + +++Inability to image lesions with heavy calcium burden, IV contrast, radiation exposure
Cardiac MRI+++ + + + Acquisition time, unstable patients, metallic fragments
Positron emission tomography+++ + + + Limited spatial resolution, ionizing radiation, requires coregistration with CT or MRI, hindered by cardiac and respiratory motion
Single photon emission tomography++ + + + longer imaging protocols for stress rest comparison, radiation exposure, lower spatial resolution than echocardiography underestimate three vessel CAD due to balanced ischemia, attenuation artifacts
IVUS/OCT++++++ + + Time consuming each coronary artery must be imaged separately, limited spatial resolution of >100 μm with IVUS, limited depth penetration with OCT
Key: + least, ++ moderate, +++ most.