Importance of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in cardiomyopathies in present scenario

Cardiomyopathy includes a heterogeneous group of diseases and conditions that are caused by mechanical and/or electrical dysfunction and shows inappropriate hypertrophy or dilatation which may be due to various causes, mostly genetic, can be confined only to heart or may be a part of systemic disorders. It includes hypertrophic, dilated, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, restrictive, and unclassified type. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (C-MRI) is currently the gold standard examination due to its high temporal and spatial resolution. In late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) studies, the gadolinium contrast which is administered, it has a slower washout rate in abnormal areas of increased extracellular space and fibrosis. The normal myocardium gets nulled and the abnormal areas are seen as bright areas on LGE. According to the Global Burden of Diseases, injuries, and risk factors study 2016, cardiomyopathy contributed to 0.12% of total deaths, 0.11% of total disability-adjusted life years in India. The main objective of the article is to review the role of MRI in cardiomyopathies (CMPs), especially after post-COVID-19 pandemic with the purpose whether this can be one shop modality with reference to echocardiography. With the advancement in MRI technology and availability of state of art cardiac coils and cardiac software C-MRI has emerged as modality of choice in diagnosis as well as in follow-up cases of CMPs diseases as it is nonoperator dependent as well as radiation-free modality.