Non-invasive coronary angiography with multislice spiral CT

The short imaging time of 1/4 second, renders the new generation of multiple-slice spiral CT devices with ECG gating enables the investigation of the heart without disturbing motion artefacts. With this method, calcifications of the coronary arteries can be detected or excluded. Certain amounts of coronary 'chalk' in asymptomatic patients with risk factors point to coronary artery disease and thus a need to modulate the risk factors. With the aid of intravenous injection of contrast medium during the examination, non-calcified plaques in the coronary arteries can also be visualized. A limiting factor is that the patient's heart rate should not exceed 60 beats per minute. Indications for this examination are visualization of coronary vessels with the aim of excluding coronary artery disease, pre-operative planning and monitoring of bypass vessels, and non-invasive follow-up after PTCA and stenting. (orig.)