PURPOSE: To assess the contribution of cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the evaluation of patients with nonischemic tachyarrhythmias and equivocal diagnosis following echocardiography and cardiac angiography. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-five patients with nonischemic tachyarrhythmias and equivocal diagnosis were studied using MR imaging. Before the MR examination all patients underwent two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. The type of additional information, obtained with MR imaging, ranged from confirming a suspected diagnosis in 5 patients (20%) to the identification of new important anatomic or functional information, allowing a correct diagnosis in 18 patients (72%). In two patients (8%) the MR diagnosis was incomplete. CONCLUSION: MR imaging may be an important additional diagnostic tool in the evaluation of cardiac abnormalities in patients with nonischemic tachyarrhythmias.
PURPOSE: To assess the contribution of cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the evaluation of patients with nonischemic tachyarrhythmias and equivocal diagnosis following echocardiography and cardiac angiography. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-five patients with nonischemic tachyarrhythmias and equivocal diagnosis were studied using MR imaging. Before the MR examination all patients underwent two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. The type of additional information, obtained with MR imaging, ranged from confirming a suspected diagnosis in 5 patients (20%) to the identification of new important anatomic or functional information, allowing a correct diagnosis in 18 patients (72%). In two patients (8%) the MR diagnosis was incomplete. CONCLUSION: MR imaging may be an important additional diagnostic tool in the evaluation of cardiac abnormalities in patients with nonischemic tachyarrhythmias.
Authors: S M Markowitz; B L Litvak; E A Ramirez de Arellano; J A Markisz; K M Stein; B B Lerman Journal: Circulation Date: 1997-08-19 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Jan Fritz; Harikrishna Tandri; E Rene Rodriguez; Hugh Calkins; David A Bluemke Journal: Int J Cardiovasc Imaging Date: 2005-10-21 Impact factor: 2.357