Recent advances in cardiac magnetic resonance

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a non-invasive imaging modality that has rapidly emerged during the last few years and has become a valuable, well-established clinical tool. Beside the evaluation of anatomy and function, CMR has its strengths in providing detailed non-invasive myocardial tissue characterization, for which it is considered the current diagnostic gold standard. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), with its capability to detect necrosis and to separate ischemic from non-ischemic cardiomyopathies by distinct LGE patterns, offers unique clinical possibilities. The presence of LGE has also proven to be a good predictor of an adverse outcome in various studies. T2-weighted (T2w) images, which are supposed to identify areas of edema and inflammation, are another CMR approach to tissue characterization. However, T2w images have not held their promise owing to several technical limitations and potential physiological concerns. Newer mapping techniques may overcome some of these limitations: they assess quantitatively myocardial tissue properties in absolute terms and show promising results in studies for characterization of diffuse fibrosis (T1 mapping) and/or inflammatory processes (T2 mapping). However, these techniques are still research tools and are not part of the clinical routine yet. T2* CMR has had significant impact in the management of thalassemia because it is possible to image the amount of iron in the heart and the liver, improving both diagnostic imaging and the management of patients with thalassemia. CMR findings frequently have clinical impact on further patient management, and CMR seems to be cost effective in the clinical routine.