Cardiovascular disease remains the world's leading cause of death. Half of this mortality is due to heart failure, the other half to sudden death. The heart is an electrical organ whose depolarization precedes contraction. Heart failure and sudden death are, in the majority of cases, associated with or due to electrical dysfunction of the heart.
Considerable progress has been made in imaging and cardiology in recent years, although there is no perfect synergy between the 2 disciplines. Navigation systems for electrophysiological interventional procedures are a perfect example. And yet, the diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic implications of modern cardiac imaging and electrophysiology are absolutely enormous, especially if the synergy we are calling for is realized. The superimposition of 3D parametric mathematical objects providing the patient's actual anatomy, functional substrate and electrophysiological characteristics, which can now be obtained non-invasively with great precision, are indeed crucial. By comparing them with electrical contact maps, we can already gain a much better understanding of these pathologies. The implementation of these strategies should also enable the development of personalized simulation, and thus individualized risk assessment and evaluation of the best therapeutic strategy, and on a slightly more distant but very exciting horizon: the development of entirely non-invasive curative procedures.
