Assessment of preoperative cardiac risk with magnetic resonance imaging

To determine if the results of dobutamine/atropine magnetic resonance imaging (DMRI) could be used to assess the risk of sustaining a perioperative cardiac event in patients requiring noncardiac surgery with poor quality echocardiograms, we followed 102 consecutive patients referred for DMRI for the occurrence of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or congestive heart failure during or after surgery. Evidence of inducible myocardial ischemia during DMRI was associated with a significant increase in the rate of perioperative cardiac events.