Cardiovascular Imaging Techniques in Systemic Rheumatic Diseases

The risk of cardiovascular (CV) events and mortality is significantly higher in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases than in the general population. Although CV involvement in such patients is highly heterogeneous and may affect various structures of the heart, it can now be diagnosed earlier and promptly treated. Various types of assessments are employed for the evaluation of CV risk such as transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) to investigate valve abnormalities, pericardial disease, and ventricular wall motion defects. The diameter of coronary arteries can be assessed using invasive quantitative coronarograp…