Magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnostics of myocardial infarction

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has a growing application in the diagnostics of myocardial infarction (MI). It is a non-invasive method that can be used regardless of the shape of patient's body. A single study allows assessment of the morphology and function of the cardiac muscle. It visualizes many pathophysiologic changes such as edema, microvascular obstruction (MVO) or necrosis, and complications of MI, like myocardial hemorrhage (MH) or thrombus, which are very difficult to diagnose using other methods. An obvious advantage of CMR is the possibility to differentiate an acute MI from the chronic one and to identify the etiology of fibrosis. All the aforementioned features of CMR have made it a useful tool in planning the treatment and assessing the prognosis of patients after MI.