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Review of clinical cardiac MRI

¹Department of Radiology, Nottingham University Hospital, City Campus, Hucknall Road, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK

• Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has a varied clinical application in many cardiac disease processes, including pericardial and thoracic abnormalities.
  
• Anatomical and functional information can be assessed and monitored using CMRI, including complex congenital heart and vessel disease follow-up.
  
• Ischaemic heart disease can be quantitatively measured, and areas of myocardium can be identified that may benefit from surgical reperfusion.
  
• Future advances in CMRI should increase spatial resolution, which may allow CMR coronary angiography.
  

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has an increasingly valuable role to play in the routine management of cardiology patients' investigative pathway, as an adjunct to routine cardiovascular imaging modalities. This overview of clinical applications of CMRI teaches the basic image acquisition protocols and gives examples of the varied current uses for anatomical and pathological assessment. Functional imaging gives accurate data for cardiac output and myocardial dysfunction, as well as for valvular abnormalities. Contrast-enhanced CMRI allows detection of ischaemic and scarred myocardium, including rare infiltrative processes that cause cardiomyopathies. Future technological advances in this rapidly expanding field are discussed, as are their potential clinical applications.