Evaluation of cardiac diseases with computed tomography.

Fifty-six consecutive patients with various cardiac diseases were studied with a third-generation whole body computed tomographic system. Enhancement was performed by intravenous injection of angiographic contrast medium. Identification of the great vessels, atria and ventricles, and evaluation of abnormalities in these structures were possible by cardiac computed tomography. For example, enlarged left ventricle in the left ventricular volume load, enlarged right ventricle in the right ventricular volume load or hypertrophied interventricular septum in idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis were revealed with a satisfactory resolution. Pericardial effusion and intracardiac thrombi were most precisely assessed by computed cardiac tomography.