Myocardial Crypts Myocardial crypts (or clefts) have been defined as discrete V-shaped extensions of the blood pool inserting more than 50% into the compact myocardial wall that tend to be less visible during systole and are not associated with local…
Assessment of Left Ventricular Volumes And Systolic Function The excellent spatial resolution of contrast-enhanced cardiac CT (CCT) permits the delineation of accurate endocardial and epicardial borders to a degree exceeding that of cardiac MRI. The avoidance of epicardial chemical shift…
Infectious Endocarditis Although it is still early in the process of validating cardiac CT (CCT), this test may have a role to play in the assessment of aortic valve endocarditis—less to assess vegetations than to assess the aortic root for…
Currently, only preliminary data are available on the evaluation of prosthetic cardiac valves by CCT, although contemporary CCT, if cardiac gated, can yield excellent images of many prosthetic valves. Prosthetic valve disease, though, is prone to many of the factors…
At the present time only preliminary data exist on the evaluation of cardiac valves by cardiac CT (CCT), although contemporary CCT, if cardiac gated, can yield excellent images of native valves. Valve disease, however, is subject to many of the…
Pericardial diseases are numerous and diverse, and imaging has a central role in their evaluation. Currently, echocardiography is the principal test for pericardial disease assessment, because two-dimensional imaging and Doppler assessment are highly feasible by echocardiography, the test is portable,…
In many laboratories, calcium scoring is performed before coronary CT angiography (CTA) is (contingently) performed. If the score (for example, the Agatston score) is above a certain amount (for example, >600) the coronary CTA is not performed, because the CTA…
Lesions of the coronary artery ostia and of the left main stem coronary artery are of higher clinical and angiographic risk. Left main coronary ostial lesions are notable for being found more commonly among middle-aged women with fewer conventional coronary…
Although coronary artery dissections are rare overall (0.1–0.3% incidence in angiographic series), when they do occur it is usually within the settings of the pregnant or peripartum state, blunt chest trauma, iatrogenesis, or severe exertion or stress, or associated with…
Coronary aneurysms have been identified in 0.5% to 4% of patients undergoing coronary angiograms. The incidence among patients undergoing coronary CT angiography (CTA) has not been determined. The most common definition of a coronary artery aneurysm is focal dilation of…