Primary coronary revascularization by means of percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) is a highly effective treatment of acute myocardial infarction re-establishing coronary perfusion and stopping the ongoing necrosis in the dependent myocardium. Single-photon emission computed tomography(SPECT) is the most widely used modality assessing myocardial salvage as the difference between the acute perfusion defect before intervention and the remaining scar size measured in a second scan several days after the event. SPECT allows quantification of area at risk(AAR) and final infarct size(FIS) by tracer injection prior to revascularization and after 1 month, respectively. SPECT provides the most validated measure of myocardial salvage and has been utilized in multiple randomized clinical trials. However, SPECT is logistically challenging, expensive, and includes radiation exposure. More recently, a large number of studies have suggested that cardiac magnetic resonance(CMR) can determine salvage in a single examination by combining measures of myocardial oedema in the AAR exposed to ischaemia reperfusion with FIS quantification by late gadolinium enhancement.

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