Cardiac MRI is a non-invasive imaging technique test. It can be very helpful to define the anatomy and function of the beating heart. MRI will become less expensive in the future, and it can be easily used to evaluate heart abnormalities and diseases.
It is the wonder of technology. The emergence of technology in the healthcare sector is a boon. Cardiac MRI has become very useful. Day-to-day advancements are seen in the evaluation of cardiovascular conditions. It has been using techniques. It can eliminate the motion artifact caused by the running and beating heart. If you are wondering how it’s done-Gadolinium is a contrast agent, which is injected into the bloodstream. It helps the MRI system to differentiate various tissue processes.
What can Cardiac MRI do?
Aortic Disease – It is helpful in evaluating detailed images. MRI has successfully revolutionized the evaluation of diseases of the aorta. It is a nearly indispensable aid to surgical repair. An important weapon to see the bulge in the aorta(aortic aneurysm), a tear in the aorta (aortic dissection), narrowing of the short section of the aorta (coarctation), etc. MRI has become a routine scan.
Determining Myocardial Disease – Helps in evaluating whether a myocardial disease is a reason caused by ischemia which is the inadequate blood supply to the heart, inflammation, or another process such as amyloidosis. It can also help in determining the nature of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
One of the potential uses of MRI in the evaluation of hibernating myocardium. If the heart muscle is affected by coronary artery disease. It can also help to identify people who have heart muscle damage. Look out for structural cardiovascular abnormalities- The process of MRI can locate abnormalities such as tumors. Which is a rare situation. How to plan surgical processes and how to approach correcting congenital heart disease.
At the same time, MRI can be used to measure the extent of pericardial effusion and have an evaluation plan to approach constrictive pericarditis.
Some limitations of MRI-
If the patient is placed in the MRI scanner, it can usually induce claustrophobia. This is one of the major causes why 5% of the patients face problems.
Patients who have certain kinds of medical devices attached to their heart such as pacemakers, implantable defibrillators or the use of artificial valves. MRI cannot work safely and may not show proper results.
For patients who have surgical clips or stents, the process of MRI becomes distorted by the presence of metal.
The technology of MRI uses extremely complex and expensive advanced results, so it is not in the budget at all.
One of the best advantages of MRI scans is that it doesn’t expose patients to ionizing harmful radiation. The images that are generated by MRI are complete as well as detailed. They are far better than the cardiac imaging tests. It has the potential of replacing the ECG, diagnostic cardiac catheterization.
