Quality Reports - Herma Heart Center

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Procedures - Volume

Why we measure it - Research shows that physicians and hospitals that treat a large number of patients tend to provide better care and have improved outcomes for treatments and procedures.

What this means - Increasingly, physicians are finding that MRI provides a very important, noninvasive tool for imaging the beating heart without radiation. A cardiac MRI provides excellent anatomic detail and helps determine ventricular volumes and size of other cardiac structures (such as valves and vessels), calculation of heart function, measurement of blood flow, and assessment of injury to the heart muscle. It has replaced some need for more invasive diagnostic procedures, such as cardiac catheterizations. The increase in number of cardiac MRI scans from 2006 to 2007 is due to an increase in our understanding and use of this non invasive tool as an adjunct to echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. As more cardiac MRI studies are presented at Cardiology/Cardiothoracic Surgery Conference and dedicated cardiac MRI journal club presentations occur, members of the Heart Heart Center continue to gain expertise regarding when to refer patients for cardiac MRI.

About the data - This data reflects cardiac MRI procedures captured in our billing system in years 2006-2008.

Related dimensions of care:

What we're doing to provide the best care:

• We expanded our clinic space and our capacity to perform cardiac MRI studies with the hospital tower construction completed in spring 2009.
• We have upgraded our Siemens 1.5 T Symphony® magnet's software to the TIM® platform, allowing improved cardiac imaging. In addition, our capacity to image is increased by having access to another Siemens 1.5 T Symphony magnet with staff trained in cardiac imaging.
• We have obtained the Medis® MASS and Flow Analysis package to allow efficiency in quantification of ventricular volumes and vessel blood flow.
• We have purchased the Vital Images® software to aid in 3-dimensional reconstruction of gadolinium enhanced MR angiograms.
• We train future pediatric cardiologists in our fellowship program and all are exposed to cardiac MRI through dedicated conferences. In addition, we have funding for a fourth year fellow in non invasive imaging, which includes both advanced training in echocardiography and cardiac MRI.
• We participate in ongoing cardiac MRI research.

Patients/Families 

• If you cannot keep a scheduled MRI appointment, please call Stephanie Laabs(414)266-7584 or Stephanie Schmidt (414) 266-2556, to reschedule.
• Please arrive for your cardiac MRI scan 1 hour prior to your appointment, so that we can gather the necessary information from you and prepare you for MRI.
• Bring the name, address, phone and fax numbers of your primary care and/or referring doctor so we can update them appropriately on your care.
• Bring a full list of the medications your child is taking including over-the-counter medicines such as vitamins and supplements.

• To understand more about what to expect if your child is having a cardiac MRI scan, please see our brochure (492KB Gif) available from your referring cardiologist.

If you have questions about this data or information, e-mail us or call (414) 266-6726.