Mayo Clinic Guide to Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging PDF

PREFACE

Over the course of the past decade, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has developed from a boutique imaging modality to the gold standard for assessment of various functional and morphologic cardiac diseases. Based on the experience within our own institution in training physicians, technologists, and physicists alike, it became apparent that there was an unmet need for a practical "users' guide" to cardiac MR imaging. We also quickly appreciated that such a text would not only be useful in training within our own walls but also could serve as a reference guide for others interested in establishing a cardiac MR imaging program. This was the motivation for creating a practical handbook for cardiac MR imaging.

The handbook is intended to serve three basic purposes: 1) to develop a standard methodology to assist the user in prescribing MR sequences in the commonly used cardiac imaging planes, 2) to provide a set of imaging protocols that address the most common indications for which a cardiac MR exam would be ordered, and 3) to give the user a basic overview of the physical principles of cardiac MR imaging, including electrocardiographic gating, pulse sequence design and types, and typical imaging artifacts and strategies to correct them.

In many respects, this work is incomplete in that it represents a broad snapshot of the landscape of cardiac MR in 2008 AD. However, it is our hope that the information contained within these pages will contribute to the growth and dissemination of cardiac MR imaging beyond the boundaries of academic medicine into the broader community.