MRI assessment of coronary artery disease.

With the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in clinical cardiology, important tools have been added to the currently available techniques for the evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD). Technical advantages of MRI in comparison to established imaging techniques are the excellent spatial resolution, the characterization of myocardial tissue and the potential to acquire a three dimensional set of data. This allows the accurate assessment of left ventricular mass and volume and the determination of systolic wall thickening and wall motion abnormalities. Myocardial perfusion, metabolism and inducible myocardial ischemia with the use of pharmacological stress also can be assessed by MRI. Future technical improvements in real-time imaging and development of non-invasive visualization of the coronary arteries and coronary artery bypasses will constitute a considerable progress in clinical cardiology. A particular strength of MRI is the potential to encompass cardiac anatomy, function, perfusion, metabolism and coronary angiography in a single study. The replacement of multiple diagnostic tests with a single MR study allowing to assess different aspects of CAD may have a major impact on cardiovascular health care economics.