Myocardial Deformation Imaging by Feature-Tracking Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling with persistent and worsening LV dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is strongly associated with long-term cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Hence, identification of patients with low likelihood of LV contractile recovery despite successful reperfusion therapy represents an important issue in clinical cardiology, with significant implications for patient management. These considerations have stimulated research into new imaging biomarkers, which provide quantitative and objective estimation of post-AMI myocardial damage and potentially identify patients at shortand long-term clinical risk.