Noninvasive MRI Technique Demonstrates Coronary Blockage

A study in the July issue of Radiology reported researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School in Boston and Beneficencia Portuguesa Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil have discovered a new cardiac MRI technique that can noninvasively demonstrate blockage of the coronary arteries yielding an accuracy of 88 percent compared to the current diagnostic standard. The research was done to try and find a noninvasive way to determine if the invasive approach is necessary.
"We have shown that cardiac MRI can be used reliably as an alternative to other more invasive detection techniques, due to its high diagnostic accuracy, its comprehensive evaluation of cardiac function, perfusion and viability and the lack of radiation exposure," said Ricardo C. Cury, M.D., lead author and director of clinical cardiac MRI at MGH.
Source: RSNA