Appropriateness criteria for the use of cardiovascular imaging in heart valve disease in adults: a European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging report of literature review and current practice

Abstract

Heart valve disease is common and a major indication for imaging. Echocardiography is the first-line imaging technique for diagnosis, assessment, and serial surveillance. However, other modalities, notably cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography, are used if echocardiographic imaging is suboptimal or to obtain complementary information, particularly to aid risk assessment in individual patients. This review is a summary of current evidence for state-of-the-art clinical practice to inform appropriateness criteria for heart valve disease. It is divided according to common clinical scenarios: detection of valve disease, assessment of the valve and other cardiac structures, risk assessment, screening, and intervention.

Keywords: heart valve disease; intervention; other cardiac structures assessment; risk assessment; screening; valve assessment; valve disease detection.