Pediatric heart care gets help imaging children gently, informing parents fully

Parents and doctors of children with heart disease have a new resource as they seek the best diagnostics with the least radiation. Called the “Have-a-Heart” campaign, it’s a collaborative effort led by the Image Gently Alliance together with the American Academy of Pediatrics and a coalition of pediatric medicine and cardiology organizations.

The American College of Radiology, a co-founder of Image Gently, announced the campaign May 7 in conjunction with the publication of a position paper in the American College of Cardiology’s journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.

“Experts from many specialties—pediatric and adult cardiologists, radiologists, physicists, imaging technicians and nurses—have come together to help maximize the benefits of cardiac imaging and minimize any risks,” says Kevin Hill, MD, co-chair of the Have-A-Heart campaign committee, in the announcement. “Children with heart disease often depend on these procedures, and it’s our collective responsibility to perform them safely and effectively.”

The Image Gently Alliance has posted a fill-in form by which providers can hold themselves to always imaging children gently.

Along with the aforementioned groups, endorsers of the position paper include the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), the North American Society for Cardiovascular Imaging(NASCI), the Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society (PACES), the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the Society for Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT), the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).