Applications of heart MRI
An MRI supplies more views of the structure and function of the heart than any other single diagnostic procedure. Certain information about the heart can only be obtained with MRI.
The anatomy and proportions of the heart are illustrated in detail by MRI. The movement of the heart can be shown in the form of video sequences. This facilitates the clear identification of disturbances in the heart’s global pumping function as well as localised movement disorders. The heart volume as well as the diameter of the heart walls and chambers can be precisely determined. These are important data in nearly every heart illness. The clinical monitoring of heart muscle diseases (cardiomyopathies) becomes more accurate and the ability to distinguish between congenital and acquired heart defects is facilitated.
Even very minor heart attacks or old infarction scars can be reliably detected and assigned to the supply areas of the coronary arteries. Via a special MRI examination, circulatory disturbances in the heart muscle can be revealed in great detail.
Inflammatory heart muscle illnesses can be made visible with MRI. The blood flow in the arteries near the heart and through the heart valves is measurable by special MRI techniques. This enables the physician to better diagnose valve defects or pathological shunts between heart chambers or blood vessels and determine the optimal point in time for a corrective operation.
Further applications of the heart MRI include heart sac (pericardium) diseases, tumors and space-occupying lesions in the heart, rare causes of heartbeat disturbances and diseases of the blood vessels near the heart.
