Ischemic heart disease is the most frequent cause of cardiovascular morbidity
and mortality. Early detection and accurate evaluation are essential to guide optimal
patient treatment and assess the individual’s prognosis. Cardiovascular Magnetic
Resonance (CMR) has proven accuracy and is an established technique for the
assessment of myocardial function both at rest and during stress. CMR is widely used
for structural heart disease and its use in ischemic cardiomyopathy evaluation is
growing. It allows stress perfusion analysis with high spatial and temporal resolution
and applies to differentiate tissue, such as distinguishing between reversibly and
irreversibly injured myocardium. Evaluation of ischemic heart disease with CMR
includes imaging of coronary arteries, assessment of ventricular morphology and
function, myocardial perfusion and viability. Late Gadolinium Enhancement (LGE)
CMR techniques can clearly differentiate necrotic to viable areas of the myocardium
leading to proper patients’ revascularization management. CMR is considered to be a
safe imaging modality with limited restrictions mainly to patients with implantable
defibrillators and pacemakers. It is noninvasive and radiation-free and the burden of the
high cost appears to diminish as it becomes more popular. CMR is considered to be a
safe imaging modality with limited restrictions mainly to patients with implantable
defibrillators and pacemakers. It is noninvasive and radiation-free and the burden of the
high cost appears to diminish as it becomes more popular. CMR is an established
imaging modality for both functional and structural ischemic heart disease.
Keywords: Cardiac imaging, coronary disease, gadolinium enhancement,
ischemic cardiomyopathy, magnetic resonance, molecular imaging, myocardial
viability, myocardial ischemia, perfusion imaging, stress imaging.