[CT coronary angiography: examination technique, clinical results, and outlook on future developments].

Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) after intravenous contrast agent administration enables visualization of the coronary arteries with high spatial resolution (voxel sizes down to 0.5 x 0.35 x 0.35 mm (3)) and a short scan time. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is also intensively studied with respect to the noninvasive detection of coronary artery stenosis and thus the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) without radiation exposure but is not equal to MSCT at present. This article provides an overview of the historical development of CT coronary angiography from 4-slice CT to 16-slice CT and 64-slice CT. A crucial aspect of this development is the improvement in image quality resulting from shorter breath-hold periods and the reduced gantry rotation time. Other techniques that appear to considerably improve image quality and accuracy and make CT independent of patient heart rates are multi-segment reconstruction and dual-source CT. Sublingual nitroglycerin as well as oral or intravenous betablocker administration should be considered in relation to the diagnostic question to be answered and the patient's heart rate. In the studies available CT coronary angiography with at least 12 simultaneous detector rows has a sensitivity of 96.9 % and a specificity of 75.3 % at the patient level. Especially the negative predictive value of CT (94.6 %) emphasizes the idea that this technique may reliably exclude CAD in patients with intermediate pretest likelihood. In the near future, 256-slice CT will allow examination of the entire heart during one heartbeat or even 4D CT scanning with simultaneous assessment of myocardial perfusion. Automatic or semiautomatic software tools will assume a central place in detecting and quantifying coronary artery stenoses and plaques as well as in the analysis of cardiac function in the clinical setting over the next years. Prior to its routine clinical use, the cost-effectiveness of CT coronary angiography must be determined and the clinical role of MSCT must be investigated in multi-center studies including different patient populations.