Demonstrated the usefulness of cardiac MRI in a subgroup of patients with myocardial infarction

Researchers from the Cardiovascular Diseases Research Group at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) have participated in a study that has shown that, in some patients, performing a cardiac MRI, rather than an echocardiography, can help predict the likelihood of future adverse events, such as death or admission for heart failure. The research, entitled “Ejection Fraction by Echocardiography for a Selective Use of Magnetic Resonance After Infarction,” has been published in “Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging”.

From Vall d’Hebron, the work has been directed by Dr. José Fernando Rodríguez-Palomares, head of the Cardiac Imaging and Aortic Pathology Unit of the Cardiology Service and member of the Cardiovascular Diseases Group of the VHIR. "When we are dealing with a myocardial infarction, with an MRI we can have more accurate information, as it stratifies us very well which patients may have more serious adverse events", explains Dr. Rodríguez-Palomares. He adds: “However, MRI is an expensive technique and cannot be done to everyone. For this reason, this study has looked at which subgroup of patients benefit from this technique, optimizing means and resources and focusing on patients in whom the benefit is much greater”. The new study will therefore contribute to a better selection of patients and, therefore, could help in the future to investigate better therapies for myocardial infarction.

The research was carried out by a team of researchers from the INCLIVA Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínic in Valencia, in collaboration with researchers from the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona-IDIBAPS, which has allowed researchers to recruit a significant cohort of more than a thousand patients from the three hospitals that have been part of the project.