Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)is a test that has been useful for decades in diagnosing problems of the brain, spine, joints, and other stationary organs. In recent years, thanks to newer techniques, MRI is also proving very useful in evaluating the organs that move—including the heart and major blood vessels.
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What Is MRI?
MRI is an imaging technique that takes advantage of the fact that the nucleus of certain kinds of atoms (most typically, the single proton that forms the nucleus of a hydrogen atom) will vibrate, or “resonate,” when exposed to bursts of magnetic energy. When the hydrogen nuclei resonate in response to changes in a magnetic field, they emit radiofrequency energy. The MRI machine detects this emitted energy and converts it to an image so that various body structures can be viewed in astonishing detail.
Furthermore, these 3D MRI images can be “sliced” and each slice can be examined in detail, in any plane. In some ways, it is almost like doing exploratory surgery on a computer screen.
What Can Cardiac MRI Do Today?
MRI is routinely useful today for evaluating the following cardiovascular conditions:
Aortic disease: Thanks to the precise, detailed images that can be generated, MRI has revolutionized the evaluation of diseases of the aorta. These includeaortic aneurysm(a bulge in the aorta),aortic dissection(a tear in the aorta), and coarctation (narrowing of a short section of the aorta). MRI scanning has become a routine and nearly indispensable aid to surgical repair of disorders of the aorta.
Myocardial Disease: MRI can help to characterize the nature and extent of diseases of the heart muscle (myocardium), such ascardiomyopathy(chronic disease of the heart making it harder to pump blood).
Structural cardiovascular abnormalities: MRI can also locate and characterize the rarecardiac tumor. And in children with complex congenital heart disease, MRI can help to identify and sort out the various anatomic abnormalities, and to plan potential surgical approaches to correcting them.
Pericardial disease: MRI can help to measure the extent of apericardial effusion, and to evaluateconstrictive pericarditis.
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Potential Future Uses of Cardiac MRI
Several applications of cardiac MRI are being studied that should eventually enhance the usefulness of this technique even further. These include:
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What Are the Disadvantages of MRI?
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A Word From Verywell
Cardiac MRI scanning is a noninvasive imaging test that can be very helpful in defining the anatomy and function of the heart and major blood vessels. As MRI technology improves and becomes less expensive, it will be incorporated more routinely into cardiovascular diagnosis.
SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents, Hundley WG, Bluemke DA, et al.ACCF/ACR/AHA/NASCI/SCMR 2010 expert consensus document on cardiovascular magnetic resonance: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents.J Am Coll Cardiol.2010;55(23):2614-62. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.011Greenwood JP, Maredia N, Younger JF, et al.Cardiovascular magnetic resonance and single-photon emission computed tomography for diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CE-MARC): A prospective trial.Lancet. 2012;379(9814):453.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61335-4Kim RJ, Albert TS, Wible JH, et al.Performance of delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging with gadoversetamide contrast for the detection and assessment of myocardial infarction: an international, multicenter, double-blinded, randomized trial.Circulation. 2008;117(5):629–37.doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.723262Kramer CM, Barkhausen J, Flamm SD, et al.Standardized cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) protocols, society for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: board of trustees task force on standardized protocols.J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2008;10(1):35. doi:10.1186/1532-429X-10-35
Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents, Hundley WG, Bluemke DA, et al.ACCF/ACR/AHA/NASCI/SCMR 2010 expert consensus document on cardiovascular magnetic resonance: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents.J Am Coll Cardiol.2010;55(23):2614-62. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.011Greenwood JP, Maredia N, Younger JF, et al.Cardiovascular magnetic resonance and single-photon emission computed tomography for diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CE-MARC): A prospective trial.Lancet. 2012;379(9814):453.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61335-4Kim RJ, Albert TS, Wible JH, et al.Performance of delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging with gadoversetamide contrast for the detection and assessment of myocardial infarction: an international, multicenter, double-blinded, randomized trial.Circulation. 2008;117(5):629–37.doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.723262Kramer CM, Barkhausen J, Flamm SD, et al.Standardized cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) protocols, society for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: board of trustees task force on standardized protocols.J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2008;10(1):35. doi:10.1186/1532-429X-10-35
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents, Hundley WG, Bluemke DA, et al.ACCF/ACR/AHA/NASCI/SCMR 2010 expert consensus document on cardiovascular magnetic resonance: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents.J Am Coll Cardiol.2010;55(23):2614-62. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.011Greenwood JP, Maredia N, Younger JF, et al.Cardiovascular magnetic resonance and single-photon emission computed tomography for diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CE-MARC): A prospective trial.Lancet. 2012;379(9814):453.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61335-4Kim RJ, Albert TS, Wible JH, et al.Performance of delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging with gadoversetamide contrast for the detection and assessment of myocardial infarction: an international, multicenter, double-blinded, randomized trial.Circulation. 2008;117(5):629–37.doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.723262Kramer CM, Barkhausen J, Flamm SD, et al.Standardized cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) protocols, society for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: board of trustees task force on standardized protocols.J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2008;10(1):35. doi:10.1186/1532-429X-10-35
American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents, Hundley WG, Bluemke DA, et al.ACCF/ACR/AHA/NASCI/SCMR 2010 expert consensus document on cardiovascular magnetic resonance: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents.J Am Coll Cardiol.2010;55(23):2614-62. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.011
Greenwood JP, Maredia N, Younger JF, et al.Cardiovascular magnetic resonance and single-photon emission computed tomography for diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CE-MARC): A prospective trial.Lancet. 2012;379(9814):453.
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61335-4
Kim RJ, Albert TS, Wible JH, et al.Performance of delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging with gadoversetamide contrast for the detection and assessment of myocardial infarction: an international, multicenter, double-blinded, randomized trial.Circulation. 2008;117(5):629–37.
doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.723262
Kramer CM, Barkhausen J, Flamm SD, et al.Standardized cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) protocols, society for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: board of trustees task force on standardized protocols.J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2008;10(1):35. doi:10.1186/1532-429X-10-35
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