title: Cardiac calcifications: difficult MRI diagnosis.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) were performed in 40 patients with a variety of cardiovascular diseases. These imaging modalities were compared to investigate their relative value in the assessment of cardiovascular diseases. Of these 40 patients, 7 were found by CT to have detectable cardiovascular calcifications. These patients included one calcified mitral stenosis, one calcified coronary artery, one calcified type B aortic dissection, two calcified myocardial infarctions, and two patients with calcific pericarditis. In several cases, MRI was misleading because of difficulty in detecting calcifications. We present a series of cases illustrating a limitation of MRI in identifying diagnostically and clinically important cardiovascular calcifications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90033.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hammersmith
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Colletti
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Boswell
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Ralls
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Haywood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000150:complications; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D010495:Pericarditis, Tuberculous / Q000150:complications; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed