Cardiac function. Quantification with magnetic resonance and computed tomography.

An integral part of cardiac imaging is the evaluation of cardiac function. The parameters measured are essential elements of cardiac diagnosis, patient management, and the estimation of prognosis. Both computed tomography and magnetic resonance can measure cardiac indices with an accuracy and reproducibility unrivaled by present clinical imaging methods; however, analysis times to calculate these variables are, at present, prohibitively lengthy, and automated methods are sorely needed. In this article, the authors review the progress being made to automate analysis and the functional parameters that can be measured by computed tomography and magnetic resonance; they conclude that both techniques can provide excellent information for cardiac diagnosis.