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Abstract The potential of MR imaging and spectroscopy in ischemic heart disease is substantial. MR contrast media have the potential to improve the differential tissue characterization among normal, ischemic, and infarcted myocardium. Several reports in animals and patients have revealed that MR contrast media can improve the delineation of acute myocardial infarctions ( 1–7 ). Studies from several centers in Europe and Asia have demonstrated that the contrast between the normal and acutely infarcted myocardium substantially increased with the use of gadolinium‐DTPA administered intravenously ( 1, 2, 4, 5 ). In these studies, the acutely infarcted myocardium on delayed MR scans demonstrated greater enhancement with the paramagnetic contrast media than normal myocardium, producing a greater percentage contrast between the two regions. These studies are consistent with previous reports using gadolinium‐DTPA contrast media to enhance the differential in signal intensity between the normal and infarcted myocardium in animal models ( 3, 6, 7 ). The expanded use of MR in ischemic heart disease will likely depend upon employing contrast media to enhance regional myocardial signal in proportion to regional blood flow. Such contrast media are needed for using MRI to demonstrate regions of myocardial ischemia and to depict reperfusion of a myocardial region after an ischemic event. © 1991 Academic Press, Inc.
Higgins et al. (Sun,) studied this question.