Coronary venous system in cardiac computer tomography: Visualization, classification and role.

Abstract

The role of the coronary venous system was underestimated for many years. In the last 20 years, a few percutaneous cardiology techniques in which the anatomy of the coronary venous system was significant were developed and are in use. The most important seems to be cardiac resynchronization therapy, which is an invasive method for the treatment of heart failure. Unfortunately, one of the major problems is the significant anatomical variability of the coronary venous system. The description of the selected anatomical structures is only useful in selected cases such as, for example, the obstruction of selected vessels, a huge Thebesian valve, etc. The 3D images can add significant value; however, their usefulness is limited due to the different points of view that are obtained during intra-operational fluoroscopy. After summarizing all of the articles and guidelines, it can be recommended that the visualization of the coronary venous system be performed in certain patients before cardiac resynchronization. The best option is to use tomography with retrospective gating with the optimal reconstruction of cardiac veins that occurs during the diastolic phases.