Cardiac MR imaging

This issue of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Clinics of North America is particularly timely given the increasing clinical use of cardiac MR. More manufacturers are developing MR scanning systems with hardware and software dedicated to cardiac imaging, and vendors of conventional gadolinium-based MR contrast agents are seeking FDA approval to use their agents for imaging of the heart. Cardiac MR is no longer used just for anatomic imaging; it is now the standard reference for cardiac function and plays an important role in the assessment of cardiac physiology. Because it provides spatial resolution that is superior to that of single photon emission computed tomography imaging, it contributes to the understanding of patient prognosis after myocardial infarction.

In this issue, experts in cardiac MR imaging have contributed articles that focus on their respective areas of interest. Many contributors have performed research that is key to the development of the topic they review. Topics range from the very practical—such as the economic aspects of setting up a clinical cardiac MR program and the basics of performing a cardiac MR examination—to the groundbreaking research of atherosclerotic plaque imaging and myocardial viability assessment. A wide variety of disease entities are also discussed: coronary artery disease and resultant myocardial ischemia and infarct; valvular disease; pericardial disease; congenital heart disease; right ventricular dysplasia; and cardiac malignancies and metastases, which are less commonly seen. The contributors to this issue have done a wonderful job of providing a very thorough synopsis of cardiac MR.

Besides expressing my appreciation to the contributors, I also want to thank Dr. Gilbert Jost, the Director of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, and his predecessor, Dr. Ronald G. Evens, for encouraging hypothesis-driven research and the fundamental development of cardiac MR at their institution. It is their foresight and the foresight of chairmen like them that have laid the foundation for the development of cardiac MR and for contributions to the literature such as this one.