Coronary CTA: image acquisition and interpretation

Abstract

Computed tomography (CT) of the heart, because of ongoing technical refinement and intense scientific and clinical evaluation, has left the research realm and has matured into a clinical application that is about to fulfill its promise to replace invasive cardiac catheterization in some patient populations. By nature of its target, the continuously moving heart, CT coronary angiography is technically more challenging than other CT applications. Also, rapid technical development requires constant adaptation of acquisition protocols. Those challenges, however, are in no way insurmountable for users with knowledge of general CT technique. The intent of this communication is to provide for those interested in and involved with coronary CT angiography a step-by-step manual, introducing our approach to performing coronary CT angiography. Included are considerations regarding appropriate patient selection, patient medication, radiation protection, contrast enhancement, acquisition and reconstruction parameters, image display and analysis techniques and also the radiology report. Our recommendations are based on our experience which spans the evolution of multidetector-row CT for cardiac applications from its beginnings to the most current iterations of advanced acquisition modalities, which we believe herald the entrance of this test into routine clinical practice.