How new imaging techniques can aid in defining the cardiovascular profile of the high-risk patient

Cardiovascular prevention has been developed in the last eight years producing an everincreasing amount of data requiring frequent updating. The guidelines of hypertension published in 2007 isted the risk factors affecting prognosis but even by 2009 an update modified not only the list of risks, but even the philosophy behind the thought process whichintroduced as essential element in the prognosis of hypertension the ascertained existence of a damaged organ (1,2). The documentation of vascular disease (plaques) and the quantification of its extension became a determinant in the definition of cardiovascular risk. Magnetic Resonance (MRI) and coronary TAC (coro TC) applied to the heart and large vessels are the most promising methods.