Normal anatomy, anatomical variants, and anomalies of the origin and course of the coronary arteries on multislice CT

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in adults in developed countries.

Conventional coronary angiography is the technique of choice for the detection of coronary disease; however, this technique is not without complications. Nowadays, a significant proportion of conventional coronary angiography examinations are performed solely for diagnostic purposes. Multislice CT enables noninvasive study of the coronary arteries. This technique involves many professionals from different specialties and is constantly evolving. This article aims to provide an initiation to the fundamentals of multislice CT coronary angiography.

We describe the classification of coronary arteries, as well as the normal anatomy, anatomical variants, and anomalies of the origin and course of the coronary arteries in axial images, in maximum intensity reconstructions, and in volumetric reconstructions. We also describe the myocardial segments and their vascularization.

CITA DEL ARTÍCULO  Radiologia. 2008 May-Jun;50(3):197-206