Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or simply cardiac MR, is considered the gold standard for noninvasively characterizing cardiac function and viability, having 3D capabilities and a high spatial and temporal resolution. This imaging modality has proven to be an invaluable tool in diagnosing complex cardiomyopathies. Several clinical uses of cardiac MR include: (1) measuring myocardial blood flow; (2) the ability to differentiate between viable and nonviable myocardial tissue; (3) depicting the structure of peripheral and coronary vessels (magnetic resonance angiography); (4) measuring blood flow velocities (MR velocity mapping); (5) examining metabolic energetics (MR spectroscopy); (6) assessing myocardial contractile properties (multislice, multiphase cine imaging, MR tagging); and/or (7) guiding interventional procedures with real-time imaging (interventional MRI). Considering the expansive capabilities of cardiac MR, a condensed review of the concepts and applications of cardiac MR are provided in this chapter.