Overview of Delayed Myocardial Enhancement in Cardiac MRI

Background: Although MRI has long been used for cardiac imaging, significant improvements in MRI scanners for cardiac specific pulse sequences have only been commercially available since the late 1990’s. Cardiac MRI is a complex and difficult examination that needs not only state-of-the-art MRI scanners, but also staff that is experienced with performing cardiac MRI studies. The main advantages of cardiac MRI are that it can provide information on myocardial morphology, function, blood flow, myocardial perfusion, and myocardial injury or infiltrative/fibrotic changes in a noninvasive examination during a single session [1]. Delayed myocardial enhancement (MDE) imaging takes advantage of the properties of the Gadolinium (Gd)-chelates to help define certain pathologies. This abstract will address the main points to be considered when performing a contrast enhanced cardiac MR study with MDE.