New therapies are now available for old diseases as in the case of the trans-catheter interventions for aortic stenosis or functional mitral regurgitation. These therapies are made possible by new and highly sophisticated imaging techniques and require the cooperation of specialists of different medical backgrounds (cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists) in an integrated setting. This monographic issue of Journal of Thoracic Disease was conceived to facilitate this new collaboration. In the volume, experts in various imaging modalities (CT, echocardiography, MRI, nuclear medicine) as well as cardiologists, intensivists and cardiac surgeons provide the state of the art expertise of the distinctive imaging techniques used in the cardiovascular field with the aim of facilitating a universal language and the sharing of knowledge.
