CT is an accurate technique for assessing cardiac structure and function, but advances in computing power and scanning technology have resulted in increased popularity. It is useful in evaluating the myocardium, coronary arteries, pulmonary veins, thoracic aorta, pericardium, and cardiac masses; because of this and the speed at which scans can be performed, CT is even more attractive as a cost-effective and integral part of patient evaluation. This book collates all the current knowledge of cardiac CT and presents it in a clinically relevant and practical format appropriate for both cardiologists and radiologists. The images have been supplied by an experienced set of contributing authors and represent the full spectrum of cardiac CT. As increasing numbers have access to cardiac CT scanners, this book provides all the relevant information on this modality. This is an extensive update of the previous edition bringing the reader up-to-date with the immense amount of updated content in the discipline.

This book is a comprehensive and richly-illustrated guide to cardiac CT, its current state, applications, and future directions. While the first edition of this text focused on what was then a novel instrument looking for application, this edition comes at a time where a wealth of guideline-driven, robust, and beneficial clinical applications have evolved that are enabled by an enormous and ever growing field of technology. Accordingly, the focus of the text has shifted from a technology-centric to a more patient-centric appraisal. While the specifications and capabilities of the CT system itself remain front and center as the basis for diagnostic success, much of the benefit derived from cardiac CT today comes from avant-garde technologies enabling enhanced visualization, quantitative imaging, and functional assessment, along with exciting deep learning, and artificial intelligence applications. Cardiac CT is no longer a mere tool for non-invasive coronary artery stenosis detection in the chest pain diagnostic algorithms; cardiac CT has proven its value for uses as diverse as personalized cardiovascular risk stratification, prediction, and management, diagnosing lesion-specific ischemia, guiding minimally invasive structural heart disease therapy, and planning cardiovascular surgery, among many others. This second edition is an authoritative guide and reference for both novices and experts in the medical imaging sciences who have an interest in cardiac CT.

This open access book presents a comprehensive overview of dilated cardiomyopathy, providing readers with practical guidelines for its clinical management. The first part of the book analyzes in detail the disease’s pathophysiology, its diagnostic work up as well as the prognostic stratification, and illustrates the role of genetics and gene-environment interaction. The second part presents current and future treatment options, highlighting the importance of long-term and individualized treatments and follow-up. Furthermore, it discusses open issues, such as the apparent healing phenomenon, the early prognosis of arrhythmic events or the use of genetic testing in clinical practice. Offering a multidisciplinary approach for optimizing the clinical management of DCM, this book is an invaluable aid not only for the clinical cardiologists, but for all physicians involved in the care of this challenging disease.

Spectral, Photon Counting Computed Tomography is a comprehensive cover of the latest developments in the most prevalent imaging modality (x-ray computed tomography (CT)) in its latest incarnation: Spectral, Dual-Energy, and Photon Counting CT. Disadvantages of the conventional single-energy technique used by CT technology are that different materials cannot be distinguished and that the noise is larger. To address these problems, a novel spectral CT concept has been proposed. Spectral Dual-Energy CT (DE-CT) acquires two sets of spectral data, and Spectral Photon Counting CT (PC-CT) detects energy of x-ray photons to reveal additional material information of objects by using novel energy-sensitive, photon-counting detectors. The K-edge imaging may be a gateway for functional or molecular CT. The book covers detectors and electronics, image reconstruction methods, image quality assessments, a simulation tool, nanoparticle contrast agents, and clinical applications for spectral CT.

This is the first textbook in DECT focussing especially on the cardiovascular field. DECT was developed many years ago but has recently spread its clinical utility. Many new applications have been developed over the last years and the cardiovascular system has benefited from these advances. New protocols will be used in the near future which will help to optimize results obtained until now with single energy CT, such as a more precise quantification of coronary artery stenosis using either different monochromatic levels or material decomposition, reduction of beam hardening artifacts in perfusion studies and optimizing endovenous contrast, among others.​

Computed tomography (CT) is a widely used x-ray scanning technique. In its prominent use as a medical imaging device, CT serves as a workhorse in many clinical settings throughout the world. It provides answers to urgent diagnostic tasks such as oncology tumor staging, acute stroke analysis, or radiation therapy planning. Spectral Computed Tomography provides a concise, practical coverage of this important medical tool. The first chapter considers the main clinical motivations for spectral CT applications. In Chapter 2, the measurement properties of spectral CT systems are described. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the current state of research on spectral CT algorithms. Based on this overview, the technical realization of spectral CT systems is evaluated in Chapter 4. Device approaches such as DSCT, kV switching, and energy-resolving detectors are compared. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes various algorithms for spectral CT reconstructions and spectral CT image postprocessing, and links these algorithms to clinical use cases

"MDCT: From Protocols to Practice" tackles contemporary and topical issues in MDCT technology and applications. As an updated edition of MDCT: A Practical Approach, this volume offers new content as well as revised chapters from the previous volume. New chapters discuss important topics such as imaging of children and obese subjects, the use of contrast medium in pregnant women, coronary MDCT angiography, and PET/CT in abdominal and pelvic malignancies. Furthermore an Appendix with over 50 updated MDCT scanning protocols completes this publication. The book emphasizes the practical aspects of MDCT, making it an invaluable source of information for radiologists, residents, medical physicists, and radiology technologists in everyday clinical practice.