ACCF/ACR/AHA/NASCI/SCMR 2010 Expert Consensus Document on Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

“A criticism of the document is its tendency to present applications with less widespread use with the same level of enthusiasm as areas where CMR has widespread utility. These areas include the use of CMR for assessment of coronary atherosclerotic disease. Although CMR is widely used for determination of anomalous origin of the coronary arteries, there are relatively few centers where coronary CMR is performed, and considerable research needs to be done before coronary artery MRI is a reasonable tool for the complete evaluation of the coronary arteries and accurate assessment of coronary artery bypass graft status.”

“Until a decade ago, CMR was considered mostly a research tool, and scans for clinical purpose were rare. With technical advances in hardware and software, CMR is now considered a powerful tool to assess ventricular function, cardiac morphology, perfusion, viability and metabolism, as well as the vasculature. All of this imaging is possible without the need for ionizing radiation, and with high resolution in three dimensions. CMR is now a highly attractive first-line test for routine clinical indications such as the evaluation of ischemic heart disease and nonischemic cardiomyopathies.”