In addition to establishing absolute infarct size as the main outcome measure to assess in studies evaluating new treatments, the document recommends that magnetic resonance scans should be carried out between days 3 and 7 after the infarction. Study co-author Dr Rodrigo Fernández-Jiménez commented that “the scientific evidence indicates that the period between 3 and 7 days after an infarction is when magnetic resonance parameters are more stable and less affected by rapid changes occurring in the heart as it attempts to repair itself. This time window is also practical, since most patients remain in hospital for at least 3 days after having a heart attack. This time window should be used in clinical trials related to myocardial infarction.”

Another of the authors is Javier Sánchez-González, a physicist from Philips based at the CNIC, where he coordinates the joint development program in cardiovascular imaging. According to Sánchez-González, “magnetic resonance imaging allows highly exhaustive assessment of processes taking place in cardiac tissue and is without doubt the most powerful tool available for this task. The new techniques for mapping the heart are helping us to understand processes in the infarcted heart that previously could only be observed by pathological anatomy of post mortem specimens. The ability to observe these processes in living patients using a noninvasive technology is without doubt a major medical advance.”


The document’s contents were defined during an international meeting held at the CNIC with support from Philips. The meeting brought together a multidisciplinary group of 16 experts in the field from the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland, Singapore, and Spain, including Dr David García-Dorado of the CIBERCV.

Back to HCB News

Cardiology Homepage