Cardiac MR in patients with implantable arrhythmia devices

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an established method of cardiovascular imaging in many clinical situations. In recent years, newer MRI techniques have been developed allowing both morphology assessment and functional evaluation of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) (Knauth Meadows et al., Semin Roentgenol 43:246-258, 2008; Marcotte et al., Congenit Heart Dis 4:216-230, 2009). Furthermore, it has been shown that MRI is superior to echocardiography for certain anatomic regions due to acoustic window limitations, particularly in the pulmonary artery branches and the aortic arch in adult patients. MRI is currently established as the gold standard for measurements of ventricular volumes as well as for blood flow analysis (Koskenvuo et al., Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 27:385-393, 2007; Maceira et al., Eur Heart J 27:2879-2888, 2006; Kilner et al., J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 9:723-728, 2007; Prakash et al., Am J Cardiol 93:657-661, 2004). These advantages coupled with the freedom from ionizing radiation make MRI an attractive noninvasive imaging tool for patients with CHD (Rebergen and de Roos Herz 25:365-383, 2000).