Emerging cardiovascular imaging techniques to non-invasively detect coronary artery disease

The current reference standard for the non-invasive detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients who present with symptoms suggestive of CAD is either an exercise or pharmacologic stress radionuclide examination. Although useful, this test is limited by its relatively poor spatial resolution, high cost and need for ionizing radiation. Alternative non-invasive tests that are now clinically available include rest or pharmacologic stress echocardiography, pharmacologic stress during magnetic resonance perfusion imaging and multislice computed tomographic coronary angiography. This paper will present the advantages and disadvantages of stress techniques, and new developments that will further improve the accuracy of these tests.