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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for the Evaluation of Suspected Cardiac Thrombus: Conventional and Emerging Techniques
Published on: June 11, 2019
[Cardiac computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in patients with coronary artery disease]
U Sechtem1, A Geissler, A Athanasiadis
1Abteilung für Kardiologie, Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus, Auerbachstrasse 110, 70376, Stuttgart, Deutschland. udo.sechtem@rbk.de
Insights
Coronary CT angiography (CTCA) effectively evaluates coronary artery stenosis in symptomatic patients. Cardiac MRI (CMR) excels in stress testing and assessing myocardial viability without radiation.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular imaging
- Radiology
- Medical diagnostics
Context:
- Coronary angiography by computed tomography (CTCA) is indicated for symptomatic patients with intermediate likelihood of coronary stenosis.
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is primarily used for pharmacologic stress testing and myocardial viability assessment.
Purpose:
- To outline the appropriate use cases for CTCA and CMR in cardiovascular diagnostics.
- To highlight CTCA's role in excluding coronary stenosis and CMR's utility in stress testing and viability assessment.
Summary:
- CTCA is suitable for symptomatic patients with intermediate pre-test probability of coronary artery disease, aiding in stenosis exclusion and management decisions.
- CMR serves as a key tool for pharmacologic stress testing (dobutamine stress CMR, adenosine perfusion CMR) and is the gold standard for myocardial scar assessment (late gadolinium enhancement CMR) to predict functional recovery.
Impact:
- Provides clear guidelines for utilizing advanced imaging techniques in cardiology.
- Offers alternatives to invasive procedures and radiation-based imaging, improving patient management and outcomes.
Abstract:
Coronary angiography by computed tomography (CTCA) is most suitable for symptomatic patients with an intermediate likelihood to exclude a coronary stenosis as the cause of the symptoms. It would also be appropriate in a patient in whom an equivoval stress test result has led to uncertainty about the patient's further management. CTCA may occasionally be acceptable in a high risk symptomatic patient who refuses the necessary invasive coronary angiography if the results of CTCA are likely to alter patient management.The main indication for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is for pharmacologic stress testing. If such a test is indicated, dobutamine stress CMR is an alternative to stress echocardiography and adenosine perfusion CMR is the alternative to nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging but without radiation. Late gadolinium enhancement CMR is the current gold standard for the assessment of myocardial scars and hence is well suited to predict recovery of function in dysfunctional myocardial regions following revascularisation (viability testing).
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