ESR Essentials: ten steps to cardiac MR—practice recommendations by ESCR

Abstract

Cardiovascular MR imaging has become an indispensable noninvasive tool in diagnosing and monitoring a broad range of cardiovascular diseases. Key to its clinical success and efficiency are appropriate clinical indication triage, technical expertise, patient safety, standardized preparation and execution, quality assurance, efficient post-processing, structured reporting, and communication and clinical integration of findings. Technological advancements are driving faster, more accessible, and cost-effective approaches. This ESR Essentials article presents a ten-step guide for implementing a cardiovascular MR program, covering indication assessments, optimized imaging, post-processing, and detailed reporting. Future goals include streamlined protocols, improved tissue characterization, and automation for greater standardization and efficiency.

Clinical relevance statement

The growing clinical role of cardiovascular MR in risk assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning highlights the necessity for radiologists to achieve expertise in this modality, advancing precision medicine and healthcare efficiency.

Key Points

• Cardiovascular MR is essential in diagnosing and monitoring many acute and chronic cardiovascular pathologies.

• Features such as technical expertise, quality assurance, patient safety, and optimized tailored imaging protocols, among others, are essential for a successful cardiovascular MR program.

• Ongoing technological advances will push rapid multi-parametric cardiovascular MR, thus improving accessibility, patient comfort, and cost-effectiveness.

Key Recommendations

• Cardiovascular MR is essential in diagnosing and monitoring a wide array of cardiovascular pathologies (Level of Evidence: High).

• A successful cardiovascular MR program depends on standardization (Level of Evidence: Low).

• Future developments will increase the efficiency and accessibility of cardiovascular MR (Level of Evidence: Low).