Cardiac MRI: Overview of Clinical Applications

Speaker:

Kana Fujikura, MD, MPH

Clinical Associate Professor

Department of Radiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Abstract:

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Effective management increasingly depends on imaging technologies that reveal structure, function, and tissue health in a single examination. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has matured into a first-line, radiation-free modality that enables precise diagnosis and monitoring across a broad spectrum of heart disease. In this talk, Dr. Fujikura will discuss how CMRI is transforming cardiovascular care, from differentiating ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathies to guiding therapy and assessing prognosis. She will illustrate how cine imaging, late gadolinium enhancement, and tissue mapping provide detailed insight into myocardial viability and remodeling, complementing cardiac CT to refine etiology and treatment planning. Beyond cardiomyopathy, CMRI plays a pivotal role in valvular and annular disease (including the underrecognized mitral annular spectrum), congenital and structural abnormalities, and peri-procedural planning, such as high-resolution pulmonary vein angiography for atrial fibrillation ablation. Emerging evidence also supports CMRI as a robust tool for evaluating diastolic function, offering new opportunities for quantitative, reproducible assessment where echocardiography reaches its limits. Dr. Fujikura will highlight the clinical and engineering challenges that continue to drive innovation in this field: from faster image acquisition and motion correction to advanced contrast agents and AI-based reconstruction. Attendees will gain an appreciation of how CMRI is redefining cardiovascular diagnostics and opening new avenues for collaboration between engineers, imaging scientists, and clinicians to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Fujikura earned her MD from Keio University in Japan in 1999. Following this, she undertook a fellowship in Vascular & Interventional Radiology at New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University in 2010, completed an Internal Medicine residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in 2013, and progressed into cardiology with a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Montefiore Medical Center in 2016. In 2018, she completed a T32-funded Cardiovascular Imaging fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and in the same year received her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Harvard University. She is board-certified in cardiovascular disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine (2016).