Purpose: The assessment of myocardial edema provides diagnostic and prognostic information in patients with acute myocardial infarction. The presence of myocardial edema can be visualized in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by commonly used T2-weighted sequences - Turbo Inversion Recovery with Magnitude Display (T2-TIRM). Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) is a new sequence used in myocardial imaging with a potential clinical utility. The aim of this study was to compare two methods of myocardial edema imaging: DWI and T2-TIRM. Methods: The study group consist of 91 patients, aged 35-84 years (77% men): 71 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and control group 20 patients with chronic myocardial infarction. MRI was performed within 7 days in patients with STEMI and in control group six months after STEMI with use of standard protocol. Based on the frequency of an increased signal detection associated with an edema in STEMI group and control group, the sensitivity and specificity of T2-TIRM and DWI was determined. The presence of edema in STEMI group was correlated with infarct related artery (LAD, LCX, RCA). Results: The edema was visualized in STEMI group in 83,1% patients when DWI sequence was used compare to 60,6% patients in T2-TIRM. A statistically significant difference in visualization of the edema was observed between both methods in inferior-STEMI patients (85% vs 46%, p=0,0002). Tab.1. View this table: Table 1. The presence of the edema Conclusion: Diffusion Weighted Imaging is a new method of myocardial edema imaging. DWI shows a higher sensitivity in the detection of myocardial edema than commonly used T2-TIRM. In contrast to the T2-TIRM, the sensitivity of the DWI sequence does not depend on the infarct location.