Cardiac calcifications: difficult MRI diagnosis |
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Authors: | S M Hammersmith P M Colletti S L Norris W D Boswell P W Ralls L J Haywood |
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Affiliation: | Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90033. |
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Abstract: | Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) were performed in 40 patients with a variety of cardiovascular diseases. These imaging modalities were compared to investigate their relative value in the assessment of cardiovascular diseases. Of these 40 patients, 7 were found by CT to have detectable cardiovascular calcifications. These patients included one calcified mitral stenosis, one calcified coronary artery, one calcified type B aortic dissection, two calcified myocardial infarctions, and two patients with calcific pericarditis. In several cases, MRI was misleading because of difficulty in detecting calcifications. We present a series of cases illustrating a limitation of MRI in identifying diagnostically and clinically important cardiovascular calcifications. |
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