Unexpected Cardiac MRI Findings in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department for Possible Acute Coronary Syndrome

ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Workup of Pleural Effusion or Pleural Disease

Pleural effusions are categorized as transudative or exudative, with transudative effusions usually reflecting the sequala of a systemic etiology and exudative effusions usually resulting from a process localized to the pleura. Common causes of transudative pleural effusions include congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, and renal failure, whereas exudative effusions are typically due to infection, malignancy, or autoimmune disorders. This document summarizes appropriateness guidelines for imaging in four common clinical scenarios in patients with known or suspected pleural effusion or pleural disease. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision process support the systematic analysis of the medical literature from peer reviewed journals. Established methodology principles such as Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE are adapted to evaluate the evidence. The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method User Manual provides the methodology to determine the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where peer reviewed literature is lacking or equivocal, experts may be the primary evidentiary source available to formulate a recommendation.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMRI) Applications in Patients with Chest Pain in the Emergency Department: A Narrative Review

CMRI is the exclusive imaging technique capable of identifying myocardial edema, endomyocardial fibrosis, pericarditis accompanied by pericardial effusions, and apical thrombi within either the left or right ventricle. In this work, we examine the research literature on the use of CMRI in the diagnosis of chest discomfort, employing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate its effectiveness. The research outlines the disorders of the chest and the machine learning approaches for detecting them. In conclusion, the study ends with an examination of a fundamental illustration of CMRI analysis. To find a comprehensive review, the Scopus scientific resource is analyzed. The issue, based on the findings, is to distinguish ischemia from non-ischemic cardiac causes of chest pain in individuals presenting with sudden chest pain or discomfort upon arrival at the emergency department (ED). Due to the failure of conventional methods in accurately diagnosing acute cardiac ischemia, individuals are still being inappropriately discharged from the ED, resulting in a heightened death rate.

Prevalence and prognostic impact of nonischemic late gadolinium enhancement in stress cardiac magnetic resonance

AIM

To assess the prevalence and prognostic significance of NI-LGE in patients undergoing stress-CMR.

METHODS

Stress-CMR with either dipyridamole or adenosine was performed in 283 patients (228 men, 81%) including perfusion imaging, wall motion evaluation and LGE. Follow-up was completed in all enrolled patients (median time: 1850 days; interquartile range: 1225-2705 days). Composite endpoint included cardiac death, ventricular tachycardia, myocardial infarction, stroke, hospitalization for cardiac cause and coronary revascularization performed beyond 90 days from stress-CMR scans.

RESULTS

One hundred and twelve patients (40%) had negative LGE (no-LGE), 140 patients (49%) I-LGE and 31 patients (11%) NI-LGE. Twenty-five events occurred in the no-LGE group, 68 in I-LGE and 11 in the NI-LGE group. On survival curves, patients with NI-LGE had worse prognosis than patients with no-LGE regardless of the presence of inducible perfusion defects. No significant prognostic differences were found between I-LGE and NI-LGE.

CONCLUSION

NI-LGE can be detected in 11% of patients during stress-CMR providing a diagnosis of nonischemic cardiac disease. Patients with NI-LGE have worse prognosis than those with no-LGE.