[Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Modalities: What do we Really see?]

Assessment of perfusion, severity of ischemia and the volume of viable myocardium, including single-photon or positron emission tomography (SPECT and PET) is one of the most important stages of examination of patients with ischemic heart disease. However, in recent years "perfusion" prefix was added to other cardiologic modalities (echocardiography, magnetic resonance and computed tomography). Such a terminological uncertainty leads cardiologists to an erroneous evaluation of real possibilities of these methods. The review clarifies the definitions of terms "perfusion", "ischemia", and "viability" of the myocardium. Imaging modalities are compared from the perspective of compliance with the kinetics of the indicators used and actually visualized myocardial processes.