Role of cardiac magnetic resonance in MINOCA of unclear etiology: A case report of a suspicious paradoxical coronary embolism

The acronym MINOCA (Myocardial Infarction with Non-Obstructive Coronary Arteries) refers to myocardial infarction with normal or near-normal coronary arteries on invasive angiography. The broad spectrum of pathological mechanisms responsible for myocardial injury in MINOCA makes defining the exact underlying etiology challenging. We report the uncommon case of an acute myocardial infarction with normal coronary arteries suggestive of MINOCA caused by paradoxical coronary embolism due to a wide right-to- left shunting through a patent fossa ovalis. Integrated multimodality imaging diagnostic work-up, including cardiac magnetic resonance, transesophageal contrast echocardiography, and transcranial contrast Doppler, has been crucial for identifying the most likely mechanism underlying MINOCA

Stress CMR in Known or Suspected CAD: Diagnostic and Prognostic Role

The recently published 2019 guidelines on chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) focus on the need for noninvasive imaging modalities to accurately establish the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) and assess the risk of clinical scenario occurrence. Appropriate patient management should rely on controlling symptoms, improving prognosis, and guiding each therapeutic strategy as well as monitoring disease progress. Among the noninvasive imaging modalities, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has gained broad acceptance in past years due to its unique features in providing a complete assessment of CAD through data on cardiac anatomy and function and myocardial viability, with high spatial and temporal resolution and without ionizing radiation. In detail, evaluation of the presence and extent of myocardial ischemia through stress CMR (S-CMR) has shown a high rule-in power in detecting functionally significant coronary artery stenosis in patients suspected of CCS. Moreover, S-CMR technique may add significant prognostic value, as demonstrated by different studies which have progressively evidenced the valuable power of this multiparametric imaging modality in predicting adverse cardiac events. The latest scientific progress supports a greater expansion of S-CMR with improvement of quantitative myocardial perfusion analysis, myocardial strain, and native mapping within the same examination. Although further study is warranted, these techniques, which are currently mostly restricted to the research field, are likely to become increasingly prevalent in the clinical setting with the scope of increasing accuracy in the selection of patients to be sent to invasive revascularization. This review investigates the diagnostic and prognostic role of S-CMR in the context of CAD, by analysing a strong, long-standing, scientific evidence together with an appraisal of new advanced techniques which may potentially enrich CAD management in the next future

The Incremental Role of Coronary Computed Tomography in Chronic Coronary Syndromes

In the context of chronic coronary syndromes (CCS), coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) has gained broad acceptance as a noninvasive anatomical imaging tool with ability of excluding coronary stenosis with strong negative predictive value. Atherosclerotic plaque lesions are independent predictors of cardiovascular outcomes in high risk patients with known coronary artery disease (CAD). Calcium detection is commonly expressed through the coronary artery calcium score (CACS), but further research is warranted to confirm the powerness of a CACS-only strategy in both diagnosis and prognosis assessment. Recent studies evidence how defined plaque composition characteristics effectively relate to the risk of plaque instabilization and the overall ischemic burden. Fractional flow reserve from CCTA (FFR-CT) has been demonstrated as a reliable method for noninvasive functional evaluation of coronary lesions severity, while the assessment of perfusion imaging under stress conditions is growing as a useful tool for assessment of myocardial ischemia. Moreover, specific applications in procedural planning of transcatheter valve substitution and follow-up of heart transplantation have gained recent importance. This review illustrates the incremental role of CCTA, which can potentially revolutionize the diagnosis and management pathway within the wide clinical spectrum of CCS