Overview

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) provides detailed assessment of cardiac anatomy, ventricular function, tissue characteristics, perfusion, viability, and blood flow without ionizing radiation.

Core Strengths¶

CMR is particularly useful for evaluating:

Left and right ventricular volumes and systolic function
Cardiomyopathies
Myocardial scar and fibrosis
Myocarditis
Myocardial viability
Ischemia with stress perfusion imaging
Infiltrative heart disease
Cardiac masses
Pericardial disease
Congenital heart disease
Valvular regurgitation and flow
Aortic and vascular anatomy

How CMR Answers Clinical Questions¶

Clinical question	Principal CMR technique
Ventricular size and function	Cine imaging
Myocardial edema	T2-weighted imaging and T2 mapping
Fibrosis or infiltration	Native T1 mapping and extracellular volume
Infarction or focal scar	Late gadolinium enhancement
Inducible ischemia	Vasodilator stress perfusion
Myocardial viability	Cine imaging and late gadolinium enhancement
Valvular flow or shunt	Phase-contrast imaging
Cardiac mass characterization	Multiparametric tissue characterization
Coronary or vascular anatomy	MR angiography

Major Limitations¶

Longer examination time than echocardiography or CT
Sensitivity to motion and arrhythmia
Limited availability and specialized expertise
Claustrophobia
Device-related safety and image-quality considerations
Gadolinium considerations in advanced kidney disease
Lower spatial resolution than CT for coronary anatomy
Hemodynamically unstable patients may not tolerate the examination

Planned Topics¶

CMR Fundamentals
Imaging Sequences
Ventricular Function
Late Gadolinium Enhancement
T1 and T2 Mapping
Cardiomyopathies
Myocarditis
Ischemic Heart Disease
Stress Perfusion
Myocardial Viability
Valvular Disease
Congenital Heart Disease
Cardiac Masses
Pericardial Disease
Artifacts and Pitfalls
Reporting Guide

Note

This section is under development.