In order to receive the best treatment for heart conditions, patients need the most accurate diagnosis possible. Sometimes that requires highly advanced cardiac imaging tests to get the clearest view of your heart. That’s why our team at Ascension St. Vincent’s opened a new advanced cardiac MRI program last year. It allows us to diagnose heart conditions and assess the viability and scarring of the heart with incredible accuracy. This information can be life-saving for many patients.
What Is Cardiac MRI?
Cardiac MRI is one of the most powerful diagnostic tools in modern medicine. It provides a highly reliable imaging modality for diagnosis and treatment across the spectrum of cardiac diseases. The tool is non-invasive and does not require ionizing radiation or iodine contrast, which are typically required for computerized tomography (CT) scans.
It allows us to evaluate the heart muscle with tissue characterization and scar assessment in detail to look closely at the valves of the heart, the arteries and veins. This provides us with crucial information that will enhance the treatment plan for our patients.
Bringing Cardiac MRI to Jacksonville-Area Patients
While cardiac MRI technology has been in the market for years, using it requires advanced equipment and a highly specialized team, including cardiac MRI techs and nurses. Preparing to bring this technique to Jacksonville required me to spend a year of advanced training, where I learned from world-renowned doctors and obtained my level 3 Cardiac MRI board certification. My team spent four months working on the details, training and practicing on volunteers until the program was ready for patients.
In our first year, we performed nearly 240 cardiac MRI tests, and we hope to perform about 400 more in the year ahead. The testing is conducted at Ascension St. Vincent’s Southside, and we are working on adding another state-of-the-art cardiac MRI machine to our health system in the future to further increase convenient access to this level of care.
The Benefits of Cardiac MRI
Cardiac MRI helps our patients receive advanced diagnoses, which in turn solidify their treatment plans. For patients with conditions and symptoms that were previously difficult to diagnose, this allows them to receive the proper care they need and experience significant health improvements.
With cardiac MRI, we can help diagnose specific infiltrative/autoimmune conditions such as sarcoidosis and amyloidosis. We can also more accurately assess the cardiac valves and look in detail at many other heart conditions, including congenital heart diseases.
Cardiac MRI allows us to assess the viability of the heart much more accurately. This is the only technique in cardiology allowing us to visualize and compare both healthy and scar tissue.
Another advantage is the ability to look at heart thickness and diagnose conditions like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease which can cause sudden cardiac death. This allows us to determine if patients are at risk. We can also assess heart masses and clots through this technique.
Receive the Right Treatment for Your Heart
Cardiac MRI testing is truly a fantastic technology and a great tool in our toolbox to provide patients with accurate, advanced diagnoses and personalized treatments. If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of a heart condition, don’t wait to talk with your primary care physician or cardiologist. They can help you determine if cardiac MRI is right for you. Our providers will work with you to ensure you are given the right diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. George R. Dibu is the chief of cardiology at Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Johns County. For more information on Dr. Dibu and the Cardiac MRI program, go to healthcare.ascension.org or call 904-450-8699.
