title: Imaging techniques in the evaluation of post-infarction function and scar.
abstract: Imaging techniques are essential in the clinical evaluation of patients with a myocardial infarction. They are of value for both initial assessment of the ischemic injury and for detection of the subgroup of patients at higher risk of developing cardiovascular events during follow-up. Echocardiography remains the technique of choice for the initial evaluation, owing to its bedside capability to determine strong predictors, such as ventricular volumes, global and regional systolic function, and valvular regurgitation. New techniques for evaluating ventricular mechanics, mainly assessment of ventricular deformation, are revealing important aspects of post-infarction ventricular adaptation. The main alternative to echocardiography is cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. This technique is highly accurate for determining ventricular volumes and ventricular function and has the additional advantage of being able to characterize the myocardium and demonstrate changes associated with the ischemic insult such as necrosis/fibrosis, edema, microvascular obstruction, and intramyocardial hemorrhage. These features not only allow detection and quantification of the infarct size, but also reveal additional characteristics of the scar tissue with prognostic value.
authors.affiliation: The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health; Icahn School of Medicine, New York, United States; Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pozo
authors.affiliation: The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health; Icahn School of Medicine, New York, United States. Electronic address: Javier.Sanz@mountsinai.org.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanz
mesh_terms: D057791:Cardiac Imaging Techniques; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Cicatriz; Función ventricular; Imaging techniques; Infarto de miocardio; Myocardial infarction; Scar; Técnicas de imagen; Ventricular function