Who would win in a fight TOE or MRI

[MJOR1981]

Morning, Hope everyone is well

Can anybody tell me which is better for looking at the heart, TOE or MRI?

I have been looking at my letters from both (both done by different cardiologists) MRI shows good EF of 60% and appears to show good recovery. TOE shows 50% and doesn’t paint such a rosey picture..

I asked my GP and he didn’t know which was better... 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Midgeymoo17]

It depends what you want to measure. If it moves or involves blood flow TOE can measure it directly. MRI can not the value is estimated based on a mathematical model.

MRI has a much higher precision but only really works best for static values- such as ventricular volume/ size. It is bad at imaging moving things.

In both intances the quality of the results depend somewhat on the operator. For MRI this is because sychronisation is required to obtain the best images and this requires human input.

Different use case but I had a leaking heart valve. The way it is for that: TOE makes the more accurate measurement of how much blood leaks back into my ventricle. The blood doing this put my ventricle under pressure and it stretches. The stretching is best quantified using MRI.

I have no idea which would likely be more accurate for you- but what I can see is both he echo and mri, despite their differences, are both reporting a normal / low normal ejection fraction. ( Normal 50-70% : heart.org/en/health-topics/...

[MJOR1981]

Thanks Guys

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

MRI is the gold standard providing it is based on sufficient slices. Three is borderline but I would expect more have to been used.

[Hidden]

Why not have both - i did! The TOE was more helpful for understanding my situation better.

Though in truth, it was the Angiogram that got me pushed to the top of the list for surgery!

[MJOR1981]

I have had 2 of them Brand, both showed clear arteries.

Like so many on here, I will have to wait my turn... and check the letter box every day in anticipation..