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Objectives To compare contrast-enhanced anatomic imaging to contrast-enhanced tissue characterization (DE-CMR) for left ventricular (LV) thrombus detection. Background Contrast echocardiography (echo) detects LV thrombus based on anatomic appearance whereas delayed-enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-CMR) imaging detects thrombus based on tissue characteristics. DE-CMR has been validated as an accurate technique for thrombus but its utility compared to contrast echo is unknown. Methods Multimodality imaging was performed in 121 patients at high-risk for thrombus due to myocardial infarction or heart failure. Imaging included three anatomic imaging techniques for thrombus detection (contrast echo, non-contrast echo, cine-CMR) and a reference of DE-CMR tissue characterization. LV structural parameters were quantified to identify markers for thrombus and predictors of additive utility of contrast-enhanced thrombus imaging. Results 24 patients had thrombus by DE-CMR. Patients with thrombus had larger infarcts (by DE-CMR), more aneurysms and lower LVEF (by CMR and echo) than those without thrombus. Contrast echo nearly doubled sensitivity (61% vs. 33%, p<0.05) and yielded improved accuracy (92% vs. 82%, p<0.01) vs. non-contrast echo. Patients who derived incremental diagnostic utility from DE-CMR had lower LVEF vs. those in whom non-contrast echo alone accurately assessed thrombus (35±9% vs. 42±14%, p<0.01), with a similar trend for patients that derived incremental benefit from contrast echo (p=0.08). Contrast echo and cine-CMR closely agreed on the diagnosis of thrombus (kappa=0.79, p<0.001). Thrombus prevalence was lower by contrast echo than DE-CMR (p<0.05). Thrombus detected by DE-CMR but not by contrast echo was more likely to be mural in shape or, when apical, small in volume (p<0.05). Conclusions Echo contrast in high-risk patients markedly improves detection of LV thrombus, but does not detect a substantial number of thrombi identified by DE-CMR tissue characterization. Thrombi detected by DE-CMR but not by contrast echo are typically mural in shape or small in volume.

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