Review of clinical cardiac MRI

•. Cardiac MRI has become much more widely available over the last decade. •. The standard cardiac MRI examination involves still images to assess anatomy, and cine images to assess cardiac function. •. Additional information can be gained from phase-contrast flow assessment, and from contrast-enhanced sequences for assessment of perfusion and scar, or for angiographic imaging. •. Cardiac MRI offers advantages over other imaging techniques in a variety of clinical scenarios, including congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy and ischaemic heart disease. MRI for assessment of the cardiovascular system (cardiac MRI) has become much more widely available over the last decade. While it is unlikely that MRI will replace relatively inexpensive and portable echocardiography as the first-line cardiac imaging modality, there are certain patient groups in whom it has particular advantages. This review will describe the standard examination, and explore the benefits that MRI has to offer to specific groups. Although many of the observations are applicable to paediatric cardiology, this article is based on experience in adult patients.