Delayed contrast-enhanced MRI: use in myocardial viability assessment and other cardiac pathology.
As in other organs, tissue characterization is important for many cardiac diseases. For example, in ischemic heart disease, differentiation between reversibly and irreversibly damaged myocardium in patients with a prior myocardial infarction is crucial in determining disease severity, functional recovery and patient outcome. With the recent advent of the single inversion-recovery contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence (delayed contrast-enhanced MRI), contrast between normal and abnormal tissues could be significantly enhanced compared with the conventional cardiac MRI sequences, enabling even subtle abnormalities to be visualized. Together with other advances in cardiac MRI (e.g. functional imaging, coronary artery imaging), MRI has become one of the preferred non-invasive modalities to study cardiac diseases. In this paper an overview of the versatility of delayed contrast-enhanced MRI for investigating cardiac diseases is given.
Bogaert
Jan
J
Department of Radiology, Gasthuisberg University Hospital, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. jan.bogaert@uz.kuleuven.ac.be
Dymarkowski
Steven
S
D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D014022:Tissue Survival
D003287:Contrast Media