Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with coronary disease

This concise review is an early, clear statement of cardiac MRI’s pitch in coronary disease: do several jobs in one radiation-free session.

The authors walk through MRI’s combined assessment of cardiac function, perfusion (blood supply), viability (salvageable muscle), and even coronary anatomy — all at high spatial resolution and without ionizing radiation. The argument is that, in suitable patients, this one test could replace a stack of others.

The practical takeaway is to consider cardiac MRI as a comprehensive non-invasive option for evaluating coronary disease, particularly where function and viability both bear on the decision. The resistance is workflow, cost, and unfamiliarity with reading MRI versus the entrenched nuclear and echo modalities.

We rate the evidence moderate: a 41-reference narrative review citing solid primary studies but offering no new data, and now over fifteen years old. Its clinical significance is moderate and partly prospective from its vantage point — cardiac MRI has indeed grown more central since, as this and the other MRI reviews in the library anticipated.