Coronary computed tomographic angiography in clinical practice: state of the art

Abstract

In patients with stable chest pain, coronary CT angiography (CCTA) has demonstrated high accuracy in excluding coronary artery disease and CCTA findings carry prognostic significance for the occurrence of future cardiovascular events. Increasingly, CCTA has been adopted as a triage tool in patients with acute chest pain. In specific clinical scenarios, CCTA further represents a useful tool to exclude an ischemic etiology in patients with cardiac arrhythmias or newly diagnosed heart failure. Several novel techniques are currently being investigated which may extend the ability of CCTA to characterize and quantify coronary artery plaque and assess the hemodynamic significance of stenosis.

Keywords: Cardiac CT; Chest pain; Coronary CT angiography; Coronary artery disease; Diagnostic accuracy; Prognostic value.