Myocardial Viability

Myocardial protection during surgical myocardial revascularization is crucial for reducing perioperative myocardial injury and improving postoperative outcomes. Blood cardioplegia represents the standard method in many centers, while del Nido cardioplegia, originally developed for the pediatric population, is increasingly being used in adult patients as well.

Heart failure due to coronary artery disease represents a significant cause of mortality. The detection of patients eligible for bypass surgery is a pivotal concern. Nevertheless, the optimal approach for patient selection based on conventional imaging scans remains unclear. The proposed method (Hyperpolarized 13C MRI) has gained extensive use in evaluating in vivo metabolism. This method avoids ionizing radiation and provides critical insights into cardiac function. The feasibility study aims to investigate this method for patient selection before bypass surgery. This innovative imaging technique facilitates the identification of two simple molecules, bicarbonate and lactic acid, produced at high rates by normal heart metabolism. Both bicarbonate and lactate originate from the same precursor molecule, pyruvate. The data generated from this study holds the potential to refine diagnostic precision.