During the course of and after a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion insult, ventricular arrhythmia (VA) may have several single or overlapping potential substrates. Some of these may not be associated with morphological and functional changes, whereas others may have individual susceptibility. Nevertheless, cardiac magnetic resonance currently offers a comprehensive and highly effective toolset for the evaluation of a risk of VA on a patient basis after a myocardial infarction. Indeed, cardiac magnetic resonance has established itself as a reference for the evaluation of the myocardial function and properties, using respectively, cine and tissue characterization imaging to detect and evaluate the extent of acute myocardial injuries, scars and remodeling. This article describes and discusses imaging strategies used to evaluate the substrates for VA in the setting of a myocardial infarction.
Keywords: cardiac magnetic resonance; ischemia; myocardial infarction; ventricular arrhythmia; ventricular tachycardia.