Role of cardiac MRI and nuclear imaging in cardiac resynchronization therapy

Cardiac resynchronization has emerged as a highly effective therapy for heart failure. However, up to 40% of patients do not benefit from this treatment. In this Review, we discuss the potential role of MRI and nuclear molecular imaging in providing additional insights into the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy. Variables with potential prognostic and therapeutic values include the evaluation of cardiac dyssynchrony, scar, cardiac sympathetic function, myocardial blood flow, myocardial glucose and oxidative metabolism. Other molecular targets to characterize apoptosis, fatty acid metabolism, angiogenesis and angiotensin-converting enzyme activity will also be described. The potential use of these techniques in identifying and measuring responses to cardiac resynchronization therapy and future areas of research will be explored.