Cardiac CT: coronary arteries and beyond

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Radiology
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Multi-detector-row computed tomography (MDCT) is a rapidly advancing non-invasive cardiac imaging modality.
• Optimizing image quality requires understanding ECG synchronization, contrast administration, patient preparation, and post-processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the technical principles and essentials of cardiac MDCT.
• To highlight the applications of cardiac MDCT in evaluating coronary arteries, bypass grafts, stents, and cardiac function.

Main Methods:

• Detailed description of technical aspects of cardiac MDCT.
• Application of MDCT for coronary anatomy, stenosis detection, bypass graft, and stent evaluation.
• Exploration of MDCT for assessing plaque burden, morphology, left ventricular function, myocardial viability, aortic valve function, and myocardial perfusion.

Main Results:

• Cardiac MDCT accurately images coronary anatomy and detects stenosis.
• It is effective for evaluating coronary artery bypass grafts and stents.
• MDCT can assess calcified plaque burden, morphology, ventricular function, and myocardial viability.

Conclusions:

• Cardiac MDCT offers comprehensive non-invasive assessment of the heart.
• It allows for detailed evaluation of coronary arteries and cardiac function within a single breath-hold examination.
• Future applications include aortic valve and myocardial perfusion imaging.