Actuality - Cardiac MRI: Report on preliminary experience in sheba medical center and review of main indications

The rapid technical development of cardiac MR imaging in the last decade enables us today to evaluate cardiac morphology, function and viability in a reliable and very good spatial and temporal resolution. The advanced technology allows us to conduct those examinations in an acceptable time for clinical daily use and thus, the number of indications for cardiac MR imaging is steadily increasing. Since the beginning of 2004, a dedicated cardiac MR scanner has been employed in the Department of Medical Imaging in the Sheba Medical Center. We hereby conclude our preliminary experience with 58 sequential cases that were referred for cardiac MR imaging. Indications for the examination included 17 patients with congenital cardiac and great vessels anomalies, 14 patients with a suspected cardiac mass, 12 patients with suspected right ventricular dysplasia, and 4 patients with suspected constrictive pericarditis. This article also includes a review of the main indications for obtaining cardiac MR imaging.