Global and regional functional assessment of ischemic heart disease with cardiac MR imaging.

Cardiac MR imaging (CMR) combines assessment of myocardial function and tissue characterization, and is therefore ideally suited to evaluating patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). This article discusses evaluation of left ventricular global function at CMR, reviewing the literature supporting global parameters in risk stratification and assessment of treatment response in IHD. Techniques for assessment of regional myocardial function are reviewed, and normal myocardial motion and fiber arrangement discussed. Despite barriers to clinical adoption, integration of this assessment into clinical routine should improve the ability to detect functional consequences of early myocardial structural alterations in patients with IHD.