Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: a "one-stop-shop" evaluation of myocardial dysfunction

A faster and more precise method for determining hibernating myocardium remains the holy grail of noninvasive cardiac imaging. Nuclear or echocardiogram-based imaging techniques have been the key modalities for evaluating important markers of cardiac viability. Advances in hardware and software for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) have transformed this valuable research tool into an important part of current noninvasive cardiac imaging. Due to its high spatial resolution and large field of view, CMRI offers unsurpassed images of the heart and its function. A combination of dobutamine stress function, vasodilator-induced stress perfusion, and delayed hyperenhancement of contrast within the injured myocardium has become a one-stop shop in the routine assessment of cardiac viability following transient ischemic insult or myocardial infarction.