Abstract
Technical advancements in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging over the past two decades have allowed clinically useful imaging of the thin atrial wall for the first time. During this period, there has been a parallel increase in the use of catheter ablation to treat atrial fibrillation (AF). These developments have led to new indications for and increasing use of CMR in the assessment of pre- and post-ablation atrial structure and function and their potential link to arrhythmia substrate. This review focuses on the role of CMR in the assessment of acute and chronic post-ablation atrial tissue characterisation and its potential use in the treatment of atrial arrhythmias.
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The research was funded/supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Facility at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
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JL Harrison, J Whitaker, H Chubb, SE Williams, M Wright, RS Razavi and MD O’Neill all declare no conflicts of interest.
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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cardiac Magnetic Resonance
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Harrison, J.L., Whitaker, J., Chubb, H. et al. Advances in CMR of Post-ablation Atrial Injury. Curr Cardiovasc Imaging Rep 8, 22 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12410-015-9336-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12410-015-9336-y