Incidence of left ventricular thrombi in reperfused STEMI patients detected by contrast-enhanced CMR

Background Left ventricular (LV) thrombus formation remains a wellrecognized complication following acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) era, with potential devastating consequences such as embolic stroke. Echocardiography-based assessment of anterior STEMI patients, within the first 3 months of presentation, has reported an incidence of LV thrombi ranging from 8 to 15%. CMR not only provides higher resolution anatomical images but also has the ability for tissue characterization. Therefore, we hypothesize the true incidence of LV thrombi in reperfused STEMI patients using contrast-enhanced CE-CMR within one week would be more accurate.