Like systole and diastole, interest in cardiac imaging throbs away

This edition features the second cardiovascular imaging section Diagnostic Imaging has run this year. The first one appeared in March and drew a good reaction-good enough, in fact, that we've launched a Web site devoted to the topic (www.diagnosticimaging.com/cardiovascular/).

Looking at our history with cardiovascular imaging gives a sense of the ebb and flow of the topic as a matter of reader and advertiser interest. We had special supplements on cardiovascular imaging in March 2001 and March 2002. In 2003, we scaled the supplement down to a special section. We skipped the section altogether in 2004 and 2005-there just didn't seem to be that much interest-but revived it again in March 2006 with good results.

Much of this year's interest reflects what CT has brought to the cardiovascular imaging picture. Although we've been writing about cardiovascular CT since the late 1990s, the advent of 64-slice scanners has given the application a huge boost and opened up new imaging options.

You'll find that CT occupies a big part of our coverage, but we're also going to continue covering other modalities, which still play an important role in cardiovascular diagnosis. Interestingly, multislice CT rated only a short, two-column article in our 2002 supplement, although articles in our 2001 supplement noted the value of MSCT in coronary artery imaging and its potential in spotting arterial plaque.

Whether it's through CT or other modalities, we believe imaging will play a growing role in addressing cardiovascular health. We intend to keep you posted on key developments in this area.

Mr. Hayes is editor of Diagnostic Imaging.