Dobutamine Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Dobutamine stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a new diagnostic tool for the noninvasive detection of coronary artery disease. With technological advances, CMR has evolved to become an adequate alternative to standard cardiac stress tests such as ECG exercise stress testing, stress echocardiography, and perfusion scintigraphy. Magnetic resonance imaging technology is widely available, possible in nearly every patient, and not associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. Its high reproducibility and high image quality of the anatomical features of the left ventricle and left ventricular function at rest and during stress make it an ideal technique for the comprehensive evaluation of patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Besides its ability to detect myocardial ischaemia, CMR has proved to be diagnostic for myocardial viability as well. A recent technical refinement in CMR using myocardial tagging has improved the diagnostic accuracy for myocardial ischaemia even further. This article reviews the pathophysiology and methodology of dobutamine stress CMR. The recent literature is discussed.