Practical Guide to Interpreting Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Patients with Cardiac Masses.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Radiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Cardiac masses are frequently discovered incidentally during echocardiography.
• Accurate evaluation and characterization of cardiac masses using non-invasive imaging are crucial.
• Established imaging modalities include echocardiography, CT, CMR, and PET.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMR) sequences used for evaluating cardiac masses.
• To highlight the diagnostic information provided by each CMR sequence.
• To offer guidance to radiologists in performing CMR examinations for cardiac masses.

Main Methods:

• Review of various CMR sequences applied to cardiac mass evaluation.
• Description of the specific information each sequence offers for tissue characterization.
• Emphasis on CMR's role in the diagnostic pathway of cardiac masses.

Main Results:

• CMR is identified as the optimal non-invasive technique for cardiac mass characterization.
• Different MR sequences provide distinct tissue properties crucial for diagnosis.
• Multimodal imaging, while beneficial, often finds CMR to be the definitive characterization tool.

Conclusions:

• CMR sequences are essential for the non-invasive characterization of cardiac masses.
• Understanding individual sequence utility aids radiologists in diagnosis.
• CMR plays a pivotal role in the diagnostic workup of cardiac masses.