Diagnostic performance of combined cardiac MRI for detection of coronary artery disease.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of stress perfusion cardiac MR (CMR) for detecting significant CAD (≥70% narrowing) in comparison with invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as a reference standard.

Methods: Examinations of 54 patients who underwent both stress perfusion CMR and ICA for investigation of CAD between 2007 and 2009 were evaluated. The CMR protocol included dipyridamole stress and rest perfusion, stress and rest cine MRI for assessment of ventricular function and delayed gadolinium enhancement for assessment of myocardial viability and detection of infarction.