Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Delayed Contrast Enhancement in Atrial Fibrillation: First Advances and Perspectives

Current paper reviews new opportunities in none invasive evaluation  of the left atrial fibrosis in atrial fibrillation using late gadolinium  enhancement magnetic resonance imaging. The first use of this  technology in clinical practice is discussed. In a group of prospective  studies it has been shown that structural atrial remodeling can  influence the clinical course of atrial fibrillation and the efficiency of  arrhythmia treatment. Several groups of national and European  experts in morphology and MRI studies in a consensus suggest  introduction of a new term fibrous atrial cardiomyopathy or fibrous  cardiomyopathy of atrii, representing the structural and functional pathology of atrii, of clinical value in atrial fibrillation. These data  make evidence for possibly wide noninvasive MRI studies of  cardiovascular out-patients in order to make obvious the structure of atrial myocardium and atrial anatomy as a whole. Progress in MRI technologies of heart studies provides the possibility of imaging of  thin atrial myocardium both in patients with primarily documented  atrial fibrillation and in persons after interventional treatment of the arrhythmia. There are reasons to expect that LGE MRI data  regarding atrial structure in atrial fibrillation are in a position to  provide in a nearest future the improvement of management of such patients.