ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the most widely used noninvasive imaging techniques available for the accurate assessment of serial changes in ventricular structure and function and their implications for use in heart failure clinical trials. Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome characterized by hemodynamic abnormalities, neurohumoral and cytokine activation, fluid retention, reduced exercise capacity, and poor prognosis. Critical to understanding of this disorder are observations that the progression of this disease is related to progressive alterations in structure and function of the heart. The ideal imaging technique should be widely available, accurate, reproducible, and should not be unsafe to the patient. Numerous factors influence the ability of a technique to determine the true value of a particular measurement. The term accuracy refers to the ability of a test to measure a result relative to a “gold standard.” The term “reproducibility” is used to describe the degree of agreement between two tests in which the same measurement is made.
