Computed axial tomography of the heart

CT scanning provides useful cardiac imaging but has not become a routine clinical tool for heart disease due to long exposure times (2-5 seconds) and the limitation of single slice acquisition. A revolutionary high speed (Cine) CT electron beam scanner was designed at UCSF, with multilevel millisecond scanning speed at rates of 17 scans per second. Table tilt and swivel permits direct imaging in various planes including the half axis view. Images can be analysed as closed loop movies, and quantitation of wall thickening, wall mass and ejection fractions are being validated. High resolution imaging without the need for gated acquisition is a significant advantage over nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, and physiology can be studied with exercise of other interventions. Fast CT can measure vessel blood flow and has great potential for estimating myocardial perfusion using indicator dilution theory and small peripheral intravenous injection of contrast medium. Cine CT could become the noninvasive modality of choice in cardiovascular diagnosis - the scanner has universal application for all organ systems.