Radiology: Volume 254: Number 2—February 2010
Albert de Roos, MD
T he current decade has seen the rapid development of coronary multidetector computed tomo¬graphic (CT) coronary angiography as a valuable imaging tool for ruling out significant coronary artery stenoses in selected populations (1,2). With use of the latest CT technology, it has been revealed that it is possible to image the entire heart during a single heart¬beat and thereby substantially reduce radiation exposure and improve image quality, with resultant high diagnostic performance in the identification of coronary artery disease (CAD) (3). The results of a number of studies have also shown the favorable prognostic implica¬tions of negative coronary multidetector CT examination results (4,5). Coronary CT angiography yields independent prognostic information over baseline clinical risk factors in patients known or suspected to have CAD and is associ¬ated with an excellent prognosis when it depicts no CAD (4,5).