Assessment of myocardium at risk in non-ST-elevation infarction by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and invasive angiographic validation by the APPROACH-score

Background In the setting of acute myocardial ischemia, there is a hypoperfused portion of the myocardium that is in danger of becoming irreversibly injured. This portion of myocardium is often referred to as area at risk (AAR). The aim of our trial was to perform T2-weighted cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) for assessment of AAR in patients presenting with acute non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and to validate this approach against the established APPROACH-score as assessed by coronary x-ray angiography.