The structural heart disease interventional imager rationale, skills and training: a position paper of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging

Abstract

Percutaneous therapeutic options for an increasing variety of structural heart diseases (SHD) have grown dramatically. Within this context of continuous expansion of devices and procedures, there has been increased demand for physicians with specific knowledge, skills, and advanced training in multimodality cardiac imaging. As a consequence, a new subspecialty of 'Interventional Imaging' for SHD interventions and a new dedicated professional figure, the 'Interventional Imager' with specific competencies has emerged. The interventional imager is an integral part of the heart team and plays a central role in decision-making throughout the patient pathway, including the appropriateness and feasibility of a procedure, pre-procedural planning, intra-procedural guidance, and post-procedural follow-up. However, inherent challenges exist to develop a training programme for SHD imaging that differs from traditional cardiovascular imaging pathways. The purpose of this document is to provide the standard requirements for the training in SHD imaging, as well as a starting point for an official certification process for SHD interventional imager.