Non-invasive visualisation of coronary atherosclerosis: state-of-art.

Coronary artery disease remains the leading cause of death in the Western world. Non-invasive coronary artery imaging challenges any diagnostic modality because the coronary arteries are small and tortuous, whereas cardiac contraction and respiration cause motion artifacts. Therefore, non-invasive coronary imaging requires high spatial and temporal resolution. This review discusses the feasible applications in coronary imaging of magnetic resonance imaging and multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT), which are currently the only non-invasive diagnostic modalities for direct coronary atherosclerosis imaging. Particular attention and focus is devoted to the potential indications and clinical i…