Dear Colleagues,

Medical radiation imaging is the major source of man-made irradiation in western countries. About 5 billion imaging examinations are performed worldwide each year, and cardiac imaging represent >50% of all ionizing radiation examinations, accounting for about two thirds of the total effective dose to patients Individual lifetime patient exposures may well reach values around a cumulative exposure of 100 mSv, corresponding to 5,000 chest x-rays by the execution—one after the other — of a Multislice Computed Tomography (MSCT) (15 mSv), a Thallium scan (20–25 mSv), a coronary angiography (6 mSv), a coronary stenting (15 mSv), a follow-up repeat MSCT (again 15 mSv) and Thallium scan (again 20–25 mSv). Unfortunately, physicians show little awareness of the dose of the exam they daily perform or request. The current status of this field of evidence is the subjects of this special issue. In particular, it will comprise manuscripts providing information on population impact, professional and patient exposure from radiation dose in cardiac imaging. In addition, the issue will include also a paper describing the findings of recent studies regarding the use of surrogate biomarker of susceptibility in the assessing long-term risk of heath effects, and the future perspectives of the molecular epidemiology. Based on these contributions, the issue will try to compose a balanced issue in order to increase awareness and knowledge about radiation exposure from cardiac imaging and implications for health risk.

Dr. Eugenio Picano
Dr. Maria Grazia Andreassi
Guest Editors

• Cardiac Imaging
• Low-dose radiation
• Interventional Cardiology
• Computed Tomography
• Health Risk