Clinical applications of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

CMAJ 2006;175(8):911-7

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in daily practice in a peripheral medical centre: description of the first 383 patients

“…Based on the findings of the CMR scan, in 75 patients the medication was changed, 15 patients underwent a coronary angiogram, whereas 17 patients specifically did not receive a coronary angiogram, since CMR images showed transmural infarction. 5 Seven patients underwent a SPECT scan to try to establish myocardial ischaemia, since in those patients a subendocardial myocardial infarction was demonstrated. Four patients received coronary interventions and 14 patients were judged eligible for surgery based on CMR imaging.…”

“…4 We defined myocardial tissue as viable and the myocardial infarction as subendocardial if the TEI was ≤50%. 5 If the TEI of a myocardial scar was >50% it was defined as a transmural myocardial infarction without viability.…”

“…The suspicion of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was confirmed when the hypertrophic areas showed scar on DE imaging in a typical, patchy, midmyocardial, non-typical coronary artery distribution pattern found at the junction of the interventricular septum and right ventricular free walls. 6,7 Myocardial scar in hypertrophic regions is typically found in more than 80% of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 5 and is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. 6,8 Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia / cardiomyopathy Due to exceptional right ventricle morphological and functional characterisation, CMR imaging is considered the noninvasive diagnostic modality of choice for arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C).…”

The emerging clinical role of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging

“…Although echocardiography is the initial imaging modality for CHD in infants and children, CMR is of benefit in the presence of complex anatomy or in older patients whose echocardiographic views may be suboptimal (5,6). CMR has found an increasingly important role in the evaluation of morphology and pathophysiology of complex CHD at all ages, particularly in the assessment of great vessel anatomy, venous connections, extracardiac conduits and intracardiac baffles, and complex spatial Starting as a research method little more than a decade ago, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has rapidly evolved to become a powerful diagnostic tool used in routine clinical cardiology.…”

The role of imaging and molecular imaging in the early detection of metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunctions

“…Owing to its high spatial resolution (in the order of 2 Â 2 mm), a contrast-enhanced MRI is superior to nuclear medicine in assessing a small subendocardial infarct. 45 Even though late enhancement was primarily developed for MI evaluation, it should be emphasized that late enhancement is not pathognomonic of MI, but is also seen during inflammatory or infectious diseases of the myocardium, cardiomyopathy, cardiac neoplasms, and congenital or genetic cardiac conditions, as well as after cardiac interventions. Nevertheless, in these cases the late enhancement does not follow a coronary territory and is often located in the midwall rather than in the subendothelial region or transmural.…”