Multislice computed tomography of the coronary arteries

Multislice spiral CT (MSCT) of the coronary arteries is developing rapidly as a noninvasive method for assessing coronary artery anatomy and for calculating various parameters of cardiac function. This article reviews the issues involved in MSCT coronary angiography and the methods used to overcome them. The current clinical applications for MSCT coronary angiography are summarized with reference to published clinical studies. The capabilities of CT are compared with those of MRI. Both modalities have a wide range of indications in the noninvasive diagnostic assessment of the heart and partly overlap in their clinical application.