Systematic analysis of functional and structural changes after coronary microembolization: a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study.

Objectives: Our study aimed to detect the morphological und functional effects of coronary microembolization (ME) in vivo by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in an established experimental animal model.

Background: Post-mortem morphological alterations of coronary ME include perifocal inflammatory edema and focal microinfarcts. Clinically, the detection of ME after successful coronary interventions identifies a population with a worse long-term prognosis.

How much myocardial damage is necessary to enable detection of focal late gadolinium enhancement at cardiac MR imaging?

Purpose: To assess the visibility of small myocardial lesions at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and to estimate how much myocardial damage is necessary to enable detection of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in vivo.

Materials And Methods: The study was approved by the local bioethics committee. Coronary microembolization was performed by injecting 300,000 microspheres into the distal portion of the left anterior descending artery in 18 anesthetized minipigs to create multifocal areas of myocardial damage.