Novel techniques for assessment of left ventricular systolic function

The evaluation of left ventricular systolic function is one of the most common reasons for referral for a non-invasive cardiac imaging study. In addition to its diagnostic and prognostic value, an assessment of ejection fraction can also be used to guide medical and device therapy. Thus, obtaining an accurate and reproducible assessment of LVEF is essential for patient management. This review will focus on novel multi-modality techniques used for the quantification of left ventricular systolic function. Emerging echocardiography techniques such as three-dimensional echocardiography and strain imaging and their incremental role over traditional 2D imaging will be discussed. In addition, new developments expanding nuclear imaging techniques' evaluation of left ventricular systolic function will be reviewed. Finally, an overview of advances in imaging techniques such as cardiac magnetic resonance and cardiac computed tomography, which now allow for an accurate and highly reproducible assessment of LVEF, will be presented.