Ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies—cardiac MRI appearances with delayed enhancement

Over the past few years, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has rapidly developed and is now a robust clinical tool capable of providing high-resolution images of the heart in any desired plane. Delayed contrast-enhanced CMR (DE-CMR) can be used for non-invasive tissue characterization, with differing patterns of hyperenhancement displayed by ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies. This review explains the theory behind delayed hyperenhancement, and demonstrates the potential of DE-CMR in the diagnosis of a wide range of different cardiac disease states.