• Ischaemic heart disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Western populations and represents an escalating healthcare burden. Accurate diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with CAD is essential to optimise management and help implement appropriate treatment decisions, which range from aggressive medical therapy to surgical revascularisation. Around 28 000 coronary artery bypass graft operations are performed in the UK each year.1

CAD may or may not have haemodynamic consequences depending on the degree of luminal compromise, and stress-inducible ischaemia is often considered a prerequisite for consideration of revascularisation.2 In addition the identification of viable myocardium (which has the potential for functional recovery) compared with non-viable myocardium (which will not regain contractile function) is a key clinical question, as perioperative mortality is relatively high and it is therefore important to reserve revascularisation only for those who will obtain benefit.3 A number of different imaging methods …