Cardiac MRI

1. Superior field of view than 2D-echo
2. Functional information derived including global LV and RV volumes and mass, can be applied to all sizes and shapes and shape of ventricles, even those with remodeling 3. Volume and mass assessment with cine imaging, identification and quantification of fibrosis, quantification of valvular lesions- highly accurate and reproducible
4. Right Ventricle assessment (3-dimensional nature)
5. Accurate identification of even subtle regional wall motion abnormalities with the use of steady-state free-precession sequences, which provide excellent delineation of the blood–myocardium interface
6. Flow assessment- velocity encoded CMR sequences, which enable accurate quantitative measurements for stenosis (peak velocity and by applying the Bernoulli equation peak gradient) and regurgitant valvular lesions (regurgitant volume and fraction)
7. In suspected shunt, the pulmonary-to-systemic flow ratio (Qp/Qs) can be determined by measuring flow in the main pulmonary artery and the ascending aorta
8. Myocardial tissue characterization 9. Intracardiac thrombi detected by early imaging (1-3min) & images acquired late after 5-20min- Late gadolinium enhancement Cardiac MRI