*Corresponding author:
Alberto Roghi, CMR Unit, Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Niguarda ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano, Milan, ItalyReceived: February 02, 2018; Published: February 08, 2018
DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.02.000745
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Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) has a relevant role in the comprehensive assessment of cardiac function, morphology and myocardial characterization.The high spatial resolution offers precise evaluation of cardiac volumes without geometric assumptions and myocardial characterization of edema, fat infiltration and fibrosis offers a sort of “in-vivo” virtual pathology. For these reasons the role of CMR imaging in the diagnostic workup of cardiomyopathies has gained increasing relevance, improving the assessment of many relevant issues as the etiology of sudden cardiac arrest [1], the evidence and extension of myocardial fibrosis in ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathies [2,3], the evidence of fat and fibrotic infiltration in arrhytmogenic cardiomyopathies [4,5]. The relatively scarce literature supporting a prognostic value of CMR imaging data is due to the short history of MR imaging in cardiology. Recently, an increasing number of reports is supporting the role of CMR data in the prognostic assessment of adverse cardiac events in dilated cardiomyopathies, raising relevant clinical and financial issues in the management of patients.
Abbreviations: CMR: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance; SCD: Sudden Cardiac Death; VA: Ventricular Arrhythmias; DCM: Dilated Cardiomyopathy; ICD: Cardioverter Defibrillator; LVEF: Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction