Fluoroscopic “heart chamber” anatomy – the case for imaging modality-independent terminology

Interventional cardiologists have traditionally relied upon fluoro-scopic imaging for percutaneous coronary interventions. Transcatheter structural heart interventions, however, require additional imaging modalities such as echocardiography and multislice computed tomography (MSCT) for pre-, intra- and post-procedural assistance. MSCT has emerged as the critical imaging modality for patient and device selection prior to transcatheter structural heart interventions. MSCT is unique as it provides a complete 3-dimensional (3D) dataset of the heart and vasculature that is amenable to multiplanar reconstruction for 2-dimensional (2D) or volume-rendered interpretations. Herein, we present a modality-independent terminology for understanding volumetric images in the context of transcatheter heart valve therapies. The goal of this system is to allow physicians to readily interpret the orientation of fluoroscopic, MSCT, echocardiographic and MRI images, thus generalising their understanding of cardiac anatomy to all imaging modalities.