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Review
. 2020 Feb 26:15:1-7.
doi: 10.15420/ecr.2019.14.2. eCollection 2020 Feb.

Latest Advances in Cardiac CT

Thomas D Heseltine  1 , Scott W Murray  1   2 , Balazs Ruzsics  1 , Michael Fisher  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Latest Advances in Cardiac CT

Thomas D Heseltine et al. Eur Cardiol. .

Abstract

Recent rapid technological advancements in cardiac CT have improved image quality and reduced radiation exposure to patients. Furthermore, key insights from large cohort trials have helped delineate cardiovascular disease risk as a function of overall coronary plaque burden and the morphological appearance of individual plaques. The advent of CT-derived fractional flow reserve promises to establish an anatomical and functional test within one modality. Recent data examining the short-term impact of CT-derived fractional flow reserve on downstream care and clinical outcomes have been published. In addition, machine learning is a concept that is being increasingly applied to diagnostic medicine. Over the coming decade, machine learning will begin to be integrated into cardiac CT, and will potentially make a tangible difference to how this modality evolves. The authors have performed an extensive literature review and comprehensive analysis of the recent advances in cardiac CT. They review how recent advances currently impact on clinical care and potential future directions for this imaging modality.

Keywords: CT coronary angiography; Cardiac CT; atherosclerosis; cardiovascular disease risk; coronary artery calcium score; coronary artery disease; fractional flow reserve CT; machine learning.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Example of Non-calcified Plaque with a Calcium Score of Zero
Figure 2:
Figure 2:. An Example of CT-derived Fractional Flow Reserve
Figure 3:
Figure 3:. Multiplanar Reconstruction of the Right Coronary Artery Showing Different Plaque Morphologies and Severe Proximal Stenosis
Figure 4:
Figure 4:. Example of Different Plaque Morphology on Coronary CT
Figure 5:
Figure 5:. Comparison of CT Coronary Angiography Finding to Invasive Coronary Angiography
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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