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| Assessment methods | CMR | Echocardiography |
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| Chamber quantification (wall thickness, mass, and volumes) | ++ | + |
| The high spatial resolution allows accurate qualitative and quantitative assessment of cardiac chambers | Measurements are dependent on several parameters (acoustic windows, endocardial definition, on-axis/off-axis views, and sonographer) |
| Assessment of myocardial deformation (most commonly global longitudinal strain) | ++ | ++ |
| Dedicated accurate sequences can be used for CMR strain. Furthermore, reproducible method of myocardial deformation assessment using feature tracking postprocessing of SSFP cine images | A reproducible method that provides valuable information, as long as certain requirements are fulfilled (clear endocardial definition and frame rate >50) |
| Comprehensive assessment of valvular anatomy and structure | ++ | + |
| Unlimited imaging planes and high spatial resolution help in the detailed assessment of simple and complex valvular anatomy | Comprehensive anatomical assessment that is, however, limited in a certain number of imaging planes and by spatial resolution, which is lower compared to CMR |
| Qualitative and quantitative assessment of valvular lesions (regurgitation/stenosis) | ++ | ++ |
| CMR is very useful in the assessment of the severity of valvular lesions that are difficult to be quantified with echocardiography (e.g., very eccentric jets) | High temporal resolution and assessment with colour and continuous wave Doppler offers a detailed evaluation of the severity of valvular lesions |
| Tissue characterisation (LGE and T1 mapping) | ++ | − |
| CMR is the gold standard method for direct assessment of fibrosis with the use of LGE and T1 mapping techniques | Not available with echocardiography. Echocardiography backscatter can associate with myocardial fibrosis, but it is not an accurate method. |
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