Cardiovascular Imaging - Review

Clinical situations in which coronary CT angiography confers superior diagnostic information compared with coronary angiography

10.4261/1305-3825.DIR.5064-11.1

  • Mecit Kantarcı
  • Selim Doğanay
  • Muşturay Karçaaltıncaba
  • Nevzat Karabulut
  • Mustafa Kemal Erol
  • Ahmet Yalçın
  • Cihan Duran
  • Memduh Dursun
  • Afak Karakaya
  • Servet Tatlı

Received Date: 04.10.2011 Accepted Date: 05.10.2011 Diagn Interv Radiol 2012;18(3):261-269

In this review, we aimed to outline the clinical and pathological conditions for which multidetector computed tomography coronary angiography (MDCT-CA) should be the preferred method because of its advantages over conventional coronary angiography (CCA). A consistent body of literature suggests that MDCT-CA is more than just complementary to CCA and that it provides more valuable diagnostic information in certain clinical situations, such as complex coronary artery variations, aorto-ostial lesions, follow-up of bypass grafts, myocardial bridging, coronary artery fistulas, aortic and coronary artery dissections, and cases in which the coronary ostia cannot be cannulated by a catheter because of massive atherosclerosis or extremely tortuous vascular structures.

Keywords: computed tomography , coronary angiography , coronary arteries