Multislice computer tomography for detection of coronary artery disease

Multislice computer tomography has undergone substantial technological progress during the past years. Current 64-slice scanners with gantry rotation speeds of as little as 330 ms, and particularly the recently introduced dual source CT equipped with two X-ray tubes, provide a temporal and spatial resolution that is sufficient to allow reliable imaging of cardiac morphology and coronary arteries. Especially the ability to noninvasively visualize the coronary arteries, including the assessment and quantification of calcifications, as well as the detection of luminal obstruction and atherosclerotic plaque, constitutes an attractive addition to currently available diagnostic tools for the work-up of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Besides the evaluation of coronary artery calcium and atherosclerotic plaques, this review focuses on the contrast-enhanced CT visualization of the coronary vessels, including native coronary arteries, bypass grafts, and coronary stonts. Thereby detailed information concerning the scan protocol, clinical data, possible indications, and limitations using up-to-date 64-slice technology is provided. Finally, the overview includes design and initial image examples of dual source CT technology as the newest development in the field.