Incremental Benefit of Cardiovascular MRI in the Evaluation of Patients with Systemic Embolism

Monvadi B. Srichai¹, Amelia M. Wnorowski¹, Itzhak Kronzon¹, Leon Axel¹, Ambika Nayar¹, Gila Perk¹, Allison G. Hays², Mark Fisch¹, Vivian S. Lee¹

Echocardiography is often the sole imaging technique used for evaluation cardiac sources of embolism. However, studies have demonstrated that up to 40% of patients with ischemic strokes often have no identifiable etiology. Contrast enhanced MRI with MRA identified a cardiovascular source of embolism in an additional 20% of patient in this cohort that was undetected by echocardiography, and hence provides a valuable adjunctive diagnostic imaging method for evaluation of patients with a potential cardiovascular source of embolism, particularly in patients with a negative echocardiography study or who are unable to undergo transesophageal echocardiography.