This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Cardiac computerized tomography (CT)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

  • Cardiac Computed Tomography (CT)
    • cardiac CT uses x-rays to build up 3D images of the heart
    • CT imaging of the heart can be performed either with or without intravenous contrast agents
    • as with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), following acquisition, the CT datasets can be reformatted in any orientation and can be viewed as cine loops for functional analysis of ventricular function
    • software allows semi-automated extraction of the coronary arteries and the production of 3D volumetric datasets
    • total scan time for a cardiac CT is about 15 minutes

Notes:

  • CT provides rapid, high quality imaging of the coronary arteries not matched by any other non-invasive technique and is the only technique able to provide a coronary artery calcium score (CACS)
    • presence of coronary artery calcium is associated with plaque burden - however, it is not a marker of plaque vulnerability
      • despite this limitation the CACS gives an insight to the patient's level of cardiovascular disease risk and is helpful for guiding interventions or prevent coronary artery disease (2,3)

      • ACC/AHA guidelines on assessment of cardiovascular risk state that assessment of CACS may be considered based on a large number of observational studies:
        • with a CACS of >=300 Agatston units (or >=75th percentile for age, sex and ethnicity) supporting an upward revision in risk assessment (4)

  • CT scanning is less claustrophobic than MRI and can be used in most patients who are precluded from having CMR

Reference:


Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.