Abstract
Purpose of Review
To provide an updated review on the applications of dual-energy CT (DECT) for cardiac and coronary imaging and the clinical impact therein. This review also attempts to provide guidance for the appropriate clinical use of DECT of the heart.
Recent Findings
Simultaneous image acquisition at different kilovolt (kV) levels using DECT techniques offers a wide range of post-processing capabilities for cardiac imaging. Initially used for research purposes, this emerging technique is slowly being adopted into clinical routine for both coronary and myocardial imaging. Former limitations have been addressed in the development of DECT hardware and software. In addition to heavily validated analytical DECT approaches, various investigational techniques are evolving that may provide clinical value in the future.
Conclusion
DECT leads to more comprehensive and accurate diagnosis of myocardial and coronary disease by providing several ancillary analyses in addition to conventional CT images. However, the application of DECT should continue to be refined and further validated in future studies.
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References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: ∙∙ Of major importance
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Moritz H. Albrecht, John W. Nance Jr, Domenico De Santis, Marwen Eid, Christian Tesche, Georg Apfaltrer, Brian Jacobs, Thomas J. Vogl each declare no potential conflicts of interest. U. Joseph Schoepf is a consultant for and/or receives research support from Astellas, Bayer, Bracco, GE, and Siemens. Dr. Schoepf is a section editor for Current Radiology Reports. Carlo N. De Cecco is a consultant for and/or receives research support from Guerbet and Siemens. Akos Varga-Szemes is a consultant for Guerbet.
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Albrecht, M.H., De Cecco, C.N., Nance, J.W. et al. Cardiac Dual-Energy CT Applications and Clinical Impact. Curr Radiol Rep 5, 42 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40134-017-0237-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40134-017-0237-5