Assessing cardiac CT--advantages & current limitations. Part II: Clinical utility.

The media's frenzy towards the imaging capabilities of 64-slice cardiac computed tomography (CCT) is not without cause. CCT allows non-invasive visualization of the coronary arteries, coronary artery bypass grafts, and the presence of atherosclerosis. CCT is not limited to the assessment of coronary vasculature, but can yield information about other causes of chest pain such as aortic dissection, or pericardial disease. Other applications for the high resolution scanner include anatomical assessment of congenital heart disease, post myocardial infarction complications, pulmonary embolism and aortic and peripheral arterial atherosclerosis and aneurysm evaluation. Finally, non-contrast CCT allows for quantification of coronary calcification which provides important prognostic information. As CT technology evolves, it is paramount for clinicians to understand when it is clinically appropriate to use CT coronary angiography (CTCA).