Diagnostic accuracy of cardiac MRI in hemodinamically unstable patients with valvular heart disease when echocardiogram fails compared to surgical findings

Background Valvular heart disease (VHD) has an incremental prevalence worldwide independent from its etiology. Currently, a variety of imaging modalities exists and are used as diagnostic tools to guide the decision between medical and surgical treatment; however, and “ideal” method does not exists and there is certain degree of discrepancy between the findings of each modality and the surgery, being this difference more dramatic in those hemodinamically unstable (HU) patients. We designed a prospective study to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CMR in this setting with patients usually “exclude” from this imaging modality due to the severity of its condition and their potential risks.