UPDATE IN DIAGNOSTICS CARDIOLOGY

Cardiovascular medicine is an area of clinical practice with a continually rapid expansion of knowledge, guidelines, best practices and new technology in adult cardiovascular medicine as well as in paediatric cardiology medicine. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of mortality in the world and cause major costs for the health sector and economy. Cardiovascular imaging indices have a significant impact on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiac diseases. Advanced imaging technologies have dramatically improved our ability to detect and treat cardiovascular disease at an early stage. Multimodality imaging techniques - echocardiogram, cardiac computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, simulation 3D models, artificial intelligence - are being used more frequently as their utility is better appreciated. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exerts an unprecedented global impact on public health and health care delivery. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) causing COVID-19 has reached pandemic levels since March 2020. Patients with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and established CVD represent a vulnerable population when suffering from COVID-19, and have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Severe COVID-19 infection is associated with myocardial damage and cardiac arrhythmia. Diagnostic workup during SARS infection revealed electrocardiographic changes, sub-clinical left ventricular (LV) diastolic impairment and troponin elevation. All professionals in cardiovascular medicine, as a part of lifelong learning process, have the continuous imperative in reviewing novelties, with results data from numerous researches in order to treat all patients according to best practices and evidence-based medicine, especially on this journey through corona pandemic.