Sophia Antipolis, France 4 July 2006: Advances in medical imaging now offer physicians multiple tests that they can use to investigate patients with cardiovascular disease. In some parts of the world this has caused competition between different specialists who want to use their particular technique to investigate patients. In Europe, however, this situation should be considered as a stimulus for collaboration between experts in different imaging modalities, according to a paper entitled "The future of cardiovascular imaging and non-invasive diagnosis" that has been created by an inter-disciplinary task force assembled by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

The paper is a joint statement from the Presidents and Chairmen of several specialty groups within the European Society of Cardiology the European Association of Echocardiography, the Working Group on Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, the Working Group on Computers in Cardiology, and the Working Group on Nuclear Cardiology together with colleagues from the European Association of Nuclear Medicine and the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology. Uniquely, the statement is being published simultaneously by three specialist medical journals the European Heart Journal, the European Journal of Echocardiography, and the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

The major recommendations are:

• Cardiac units should develop joint clinical services with common diagnostic pathways for patients with suspected cardiovascular disease, which are organised in collaboration between cardiologists, radiologists, and specialists in nuclear medicine. This will require reorganisation of traditional hospital structures and a new way of working.
• Cardiac units should develop joint clinical services with common diagnostic pathways for patients with suspected cardiovascular disease, which are organised in collaboration between cardiologists, radiologists, and
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