Magnetic Resonance Guidance of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Peter Bernhardt¹, Daniel Walcher¹, Ludwig Binner¹, Axel Bornstedt¹, Wolfgang Rottbauer¹, Volker Rasche¹

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has been established for visualization of global and regional ventricular function, myocardial viability, and coronary vein anatomy. Cardiac resynchronization therapy has been shown to improve quality of life in patients with severe impairment of cardiac function and asynchronic contraction. However, about 1/3 of these patients do not benefit. Adding the information provided by magnetic resonance imaging is supposed to improve cardiac resynchronization therapy and decrease the number of non-responders due to suboptimal patient selection and suboptimal left ventricular lead placement.