Can we use oxygen MRI scans to improve heart attack care?

Towards metabolic assessment of myocardial viability using oxygen17 MRI

A heart attack happens when one or more coronary arteries become blocked, stopping blood flow to the heart muscle. The extent of the damage to the heart affects how well patients will respond to treatment. For example, angioplasty reinstates blood flow to part of the heart, but this won’t benefit the patient if the heart muscle in that area has already died. Right now, the best way to assess heart muscle damage is to measure blood flow and whether the heart muscle is still able to use oxygen for energy. Oxygen use is measured with a special type of positron emission tomography (PET) scan. But this type of PET scan is expensive, difficult to perform, and not widely available in hospitals. There are, however, hundreds of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners in the NHS. And Dr William Holmes and his team at the University of Glasgow believe they could be used in a new way to improve heart attack care. In this project they will test a technique in rats, in which MRI scans reveal which tissues are using oxygen – and are therefore still alive. If the technique proves to be practical, and gives accurate results, it is hoped it could be trialled in patients who’ve had a heart attack. Eventually, doctors could use this technique to make treatment recommendations that are better informed and improve outcomes for people who have suffered a heart attack.