Cardiovascular magnetic resonance now an important first-line test

"Until a decade ago, CMR was considered mostly a research tool, and scans for clinical purpose were rare," stated guest editors Theodoros D. Karamitsos, MD, PhD, and Stefan Neubauer, MD, of the University of Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research and the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. "With technical advances in hardware and software, CMR is now considered a powerful tool to assess ventricular function, cardiac morphology, perfusion, viability and metabolism, as well as the vasculature. All of this imaging is possible without the need for ionizing radiation, and with high resolution in three dimensions. CMR is now a highly attractive first-line test for routine clinical indications such as the evaluation of ischemic heart disease and nonischemic cardiomyopathies."

"It is anticipated that CMR may still have its best years to come. In the near future, the technique will become even more patient and user friendly, with simplified acquisition approaches, faster real-time scanning protocols, novel contrast agents that target specific molecules for diagnosis and treatment, and advanced tissue characterization that will further improve in vivo assessment of myocardial pathology," commented Dr. Karamitsos and Prof. Neubauer.