Cardiovascular MRI in childhood

CMR offers several advantages over other imaging modalities, including superior soft tissue contrast, lack of ionising radiation, a capacity for true 3D imaging, accurate flow quantification and freely selectable imaging planes. These advantages and continued advances in MR hardware, software and imaging techniques are bringing CMR into more widespread use in paediatric cardiology. In routine clinical practice CMR is the technique of choice for postoperative assessment and follow-up of patients with CHD. Moreover, it allows tissue characterisation and determination of the extent of cardiac masses and has the ability to detect and classify primary heart muscle disease in childhood. The information provided by CMR is useful for treatment planning and, in many cases, may obviate potentially harmful cardiac catheterisation. The use of MR for guiding catheterisation and interventions within the cardiovascular system is an emerging application likely to find its way to clinical use in the near future.