Weinsaft Jonathan W, Klem Igor, Judd Robert M
Greenberg Division of Cardiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 525 East 68th Street, Starr-4, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am. 2007 Nov;15(4):505-25, v-vi. doi: 10.1016/j.mric.2007.08.007.
Accurate distinction between viable and infarcted myocardium is important for assessment of patients who have cardiac dysfunction. Through the technique of delayed-enhancement MRI (DE-MRI), viable and infarcted myocardium can be simultaneously identified in a manner that closely correlates with histopathology findings. This article provides an overview of experimental data establishing the physiologic basis of DE-MRI-evidenced hyperenhancement as a tissue-specific marker of myocardial infarction. Clinical data concerning the utility of transmural extent of hyperenhancement for predicting response to medical and revascularization therapy are reviewed. Studies directly comparing DE-MRI to other viability imaging techniques are presented, and emerging applications for DE-MRI are discussed.
