Magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of patients with heart failure

CMR is the accepted gold standard for noninvasive, accurate, and reproducible assessment of cardiac mass and function. The interest in its use for viability, myocardial perfusion, and coronary artery imaging is also widespread and is growing rapidly as the hardware and expertise become available in more centers and the scans themselves become more cost-effective. In patients with CHF, accurate and reproducible serial assessment of remodeling is of prognostic importance and the lack of exposure to ionizing radiation is helpful. The concept of an integrated approach to CHF and its complications using CMR is fast becoming a reality, and this will be tested widely in the coming few years, with the new generation of dedicated CMR scanners.