Multislice CT coronary angiography is an additional tool for provisional diagnosis of acute chest pain with neither ECG nor echocardiography significant findings in emergency room

Abstract

Background Multislice coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography is used to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) with good spatial and temporal resolution. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the uses of thin-slice multidetector row CT in the diagnosis of different vascular coronary causes of chest pain. Patients and methods A total of 20 patients were examined with full history taking, resting 12-lead ECG, cardiac biomarkers, and echocardiography. Thereafter, on the basis of their clinical manifestations or suspected progression of past condition they were enrolled for 160-multislice CT angiography using Ultravist 370 as a contrast medium. Results CT coronary angiography revealed the following: two cases were normal, two showed nonsignificant CAD, three showed significant CAD, 10 showed mild-to-moderate CAD, two showed anomalous coronary arteries, and one showed myocardial bridge. Conclusion CT angiography nowadays is considered the primary tool of diagnosis for different thoracic vascular disorders, being a safe, rapid method of diagnosis. Multislice coronary CT is a relatively new technique that gives physicians the advantage of screening emergency patients presenting with acute chest pain in a rapid and safe way for detection of their vascular diseases.