Advanced Cardiac Imaging Glossary
100 terms total — 24 showing — Last updated 15 Sep 2026
microvascular obstruction MVO
No-reflow phenomenon in capillary beds following reperfusion, appearing as dark zones within areas of late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac MRI.
longitudinal strain
Myocardial deformation measurement representing shortening in the long axis of the heart. Early marker of systolic dysfu...
LVEDD
Left ventricular end-diastolic dimension. Measurement of left ventricle size at maximum filling, important marker of ven...
LVOT
Left ventricular outflow tract; the pathway from the left ventricle to the aorta, commonly assessed for obstruction.
LVOT VTI
An echocardiographic measurement combining anatomical location with flow dynamics, commonly abbreviated in cardiac imagi...
microvascular obstruction
No-reflow phenomenon in capillary beds following reperfusion, appearing as dark zones within areas of late gadolinium en...
MOLLI
Modified Look-Locker inversion recovery sequence used for T1 mapping in cardiac MRI with motion correction capabilities.
MUGA scan
Nuclear medicine test that evaluates heart function and measures ejection fraction.
myocardial blood flow quantification
Measurement of absolute myocardial perfusion in mL/min/g of tissue. Advanced technique using cardiac PET or MRI to asses...
myocardial blush grade
A qualitative assessment of myocardial tissue-level perfusion during coronary angiography, graded from 0 to 3.
myocardial nulling
A cardiac MRI technique that suppresses normal myocardial signal to highlight pathological tissue, requiring precise tec...
myocardial perfusion imaging
A nuclear medicine technique that evaluates blood flow to the heart muscle using radioactive tracers.
myocardial perfusion reserve
Ratio of maximal coronary flow during stress to resting flow, indicating coronary vascular function and epicardial steno...
myocardial salvage index
Quantitative measure of myocardium rescued by reperfusion therapy, calculated as the difference between area at risk and...
myocardial tagging
MRI technique that creates a grid pattern on the myocardium to track tissue deformation and measure strain throughout th...
myocardial viability study
Specialized cardiac imaging test to determine if dysfunctional myocardium can recover function after revascularization.
native T1
Baseline T1 relaxation time measurement of myocardial tissue before contrast administration, used to detect diffuse myoc...
NICM staging protocol
A systematic cardiac imaging approach for evaluating non-ischemic cardiomyopathy that requires specific documentation st...
nuclear stress test report
Standardized document summarizing myocardial perfusion imaging findings. Includes stress protocol, perfusion analysis, a...
OCT
Optical coherence tomography; high-resolution intravascular imaging using infrared light to visualize coronary microstru...
parametric mapping
Pixel-wise quantification technique in cardiac MRI that creates color-coded maps of tissue properties such as T1, T2, or...
perfusion defect
Area of reduced or absent blood flow detected on cardiac imaging studies.
perfusion imaging
Imaging techniques that assess blood flow to the myocardium at rest and during stress conditions.
perfusion reserve
The ratio of maximal stress myocardial blood flow to resting blood flow, indicating coronary vasodilatory capacity.
pericardial compliance
The ability of the pericardial sac to accommodate changes in cardiac volume without significant pressure increase.