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Recent research suggests that multidetector-row CT may have potential as a standalone modality for integrative imaging of coronary heart disease, including the assessment of the myocardial blood supply. However, the technical prerequisites for volumetric, time-resolved imaging of the passage of a contrast medium bolus through the myocardium have only been met with latest generation wide-detector CT scanners. Second-generation dual-source CT enables performing electrocardiographic (ECG)-synchronized dynamic myocardial perfusion imaging by a dedicated "shuttle" mode. With this acquisition mode, image data can be acquired during contrast medium infusion at 2 alternating table positions with the table shuttling back and forth between the 2 positions covering a 73-mm anatomic volume. We applied this acquisition technique for detecting differences in perfusion patterns between healthy and diseased myocardium and for quantifying myocardial blood flow under adenosine stress in 3 patients with coronary heart disease. According to our initial experience, the addition of adenosine stress volumetric dynamic CT perfusion to a cardiac CT protocol comprising coronary artery calcium quantification, prospectively ECG-triggered coronary CT angiography, and delayed acquisition appears promising for the comprehensive assessment of coronary artery luminal integrity, cardiac function, perfusion, and viability with a single modality., (Copyright 2010 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We evaluated an algorithm for automatic selection of the cardiac phase with the least motion for image reconstruction at coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography (CCTA). We analyzed data of 100 patients (49 female, mean age 59 years) who had undergone retrospectively ECG-gated CCTA. Two experienced observers visually identified the most suitable end-systolic and end-diastolic phases using a series of image reconstructions in 5% increments across the RR cycle. The same data were then reconstructed using an automatic phase finding algorithm based on a 4D weighting function of cardiac motion. On average, the algorithm determined the most suitable systolic reconstruction phase at 40.11 +/- 6.29% RR compared with 40.07 +/- 5.58% RR by the human observers (p = NS). The most suitable diastolic phase was found at 72.71 +/- 7.37% RR by the automatic algorithm, compared with 76.43 +/- 6.35% RR by the observers (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between automatically and visually determined reconstruction phases regarding motion and stair-step artifacts in either systole or diastole (p > 0.05). Thus, there appears to be no relevant difference between an automatic phase finding algorithm and visual selection by experienced observers for determining the phase with the least cardiac motion for CCTA image reconstruction. The use of automatic phase finding may therefore facilitate the performance of cardiac CT and reduce human error.

The introduction of coronary CT angiography (cCTA) has reinvigorated the debate whether management of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) should be primarily based on physiological versus anatomical testing. Anatomical testing (i.e., cCTA or invasive catheterization) enables direct visualization and grading of coronary artery stenoses but has shortcomings for gauging the hemodynamic significance of lesions for myocardial perfusion. Conversely, rest/stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) has been extensively validated for assessing the clinical significance of CAD by demonstrating fixed or reversible perfusion defects but has only limited anatomical information. There is early evidence that contrast medium enhanced dual-energy cCTA (DECT) has potential for the comprehensive analysis of coronary artery morphology as well as changes in myocardial perfusion. DECT exploits the fact that tissues in the human body and iodine-based contrast media have unique absorption characteristics when penetrated with different X-ray energy levels, which enables mapping the iodine (and thus blood) distribution within the myocardium. The purpose of this communication is to describe the practical application of this emerging technology for the comprehensive diagnosis of coronary artery disease in the context of the currently used tomographic imaging modalities (cCTA, nuclear MPI, MR MPI).