Magnetic resonance imaging for ischemic heart disease

Cardiac MRI has long been recognized as an accurate and, reliable means of evaluating cardiac anatomy and ventricular function. Considerable, progress has been made in the field of cardiac MRI, and cardiac MRI can provide accurate evaluation of myocardial ischemia and infarction (MI). L ate gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced MRI canclearly delineate subendocardial infarction, and the assessment of tran mural extent of infarction on late enhanced MRI has been shown to be useful in predicting functional recovery of dysfunptional myocardium in patients after MI. Stress first-pass, contrast-enhanced (CE) myocardial perfusion MRI can be used to detect subendocardial ischemia, and recent studies have demonstrated the high diagnostic accuracy of stress myocardial perfusion MRI. for detecting significant coronary artery disease (CAD). Free-breathing, whole-heart coronary MR angiography (MRA) was recently introduced'' as a method that can provide visualization of all three major coronary arteries within a single-three-dimensional (31)) acquisition. With further improvements In,MRI techniques and the establishment of a standardized study protocol, cardiac MRI will play a pivotal role in managing patients with ischemic heart disease.