Trends in Cardiovascular CT Imaging

Here is a recap of some of the top trends and new technology at the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) 2015 annual meeting in Las Vegas.

Watch video Editor’s Choice of the Most Innovative News Technology at SCCT 2015

Watch video on key trends from the SCCT President

Last November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the use of fractional flow reserve-CT (FFR-CT) software used to noninvasively virtually assess the blood flow through plaque narrowings of coronary vessels to see if the lesions have any hemodynamic significance. This may eliminate the need to perform invasive FFR readings in the cath lab, since the FFR-CT has a close correlation with the catheter-based technology. Catheter FFR is currently the gold standard for assessing the functional significance of lesions and to justify the need for stents. FFR-CT is viewed by many luminaries at SCCT as a potential paradigm shift in how chest pain and cardiac patients will be assessed in the future. This technology was definitely the poster child for SCCT 2015, and the subject of numerous packed sessions.

Watch a video interview on FFR-CT

CT perfusion imagingwas also a big topic of discussion, with numerous clinical trials now showing it can offer a more accurate functional assessment of blood flow in the heart without the need for a nuclear exam, stress testing or MRI.

新的临床试验数据继续表明，通过CT检查进行冠状动脉钙化评分的患者风险分层的准确性。钙评分评估似乎重新引起了人们的兴趣，它可以被用于类似于常规乳房x光检查来监测心血管疾病风险。数据显示，CT显示冠状动脉无钙，表明患者至少7年健康状况良好。定期的钙扫描可以用来确定患者是否需要开他汀类药物，并监测无症状的有冠状动脉疾病家族史的患者。SCCT还在开发一种类似于用于乳房的BI-RADS或用于肺癌评估的BI-RADS的放射学RADS风险评分系统，以促进未来这种类型的筛查。

Watch a video explaining how calcium scoring may add value to healthcare

Cardiac CT has become the gold standard imaging modality for assessing patients for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The CT images also are used for planning treatment, valve sizing, and both multiplanar and 3-D CT images are used to help guide the procedures. TAVR and CT’s roll with increasingly more complex transcatheter structural heart interventions was a major topic of discussion in sessions and on the expo floor. Edward’s Life Sciences, maker of the Sapien TAVR device, exhibited for the first time this CT specialty meeting, driving home the fact that these devices and imaging technologies go hand-in-hand.

Other big topics of discussion included the use of CT as a first line assessment to rule out coronary disease with chest pain patients in the emergency department, the utility of spectral CT imaging and 3-D printing.

Video on the use of CT to assess ED chest pain patients

Video on how 3-D cardiac printing is used at Henry Ford Hospital