Cardiac stress MR imaging with dobutamine

Stress testing for detection of ischemia-induced wall-motion abnormalities has become a mainstay for noninvasive diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Recent technical developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including the adoption of balanced steady-state free precession (b-SSFP) sequences—preferentially in combination with parallel imaging techniques—have led to a significant reduction of imaging time and improved patient safety. The stress protocol includes application of high-dose dobutamine (up to 40 μg/kg/min) combined with fractionated atropine (up to a maximal dose of 1.0 mg). High-dose dobutamine stress MRI revealed good sensitivity (83–96%) and specificity (80–100%) for detection of significant CAD. Myocardial tagging methods have been shown to further increase sensitivity for CAD detection. Severe complications (sustained tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock) are rare but may be expected in 0.1–0.3% of patients. Dobutamine stress MRI has emerged as a reliable and safe clinical alternative for noninvasive assessment of CAD. New pulse sequences, such as real-time imaging, might obviate the need for breath holding and electrocardiogram (ECG) triggering in patients with severe dyspnoea and cardiac arrhythmias, which may further improve the clinical impact and acceptance of stress MRI in the future.