title: Value and limits of the computed tomography of the heart.
abstract: In cardiac diagnosis we can observe an increasing replacement of the conventional invasive examination methods by less invasive or non invasive procedures. Non invasive examination methods are sufficient in the diagnostic work-up of ventricular function in coronary heart disease and cardiomyopathie, cardiac tumours and thrombi, calcifications, assessment of the bypass perfusion, pericardial disease, positional anomalies of the heart and the morphological changes caused by congenital cardiovascular defects. Invasive angiocardiography remains essential in the diagnosis of coronary artery stenoses, abnormal bypass perfusion, septal defects and in congenital cardiovascular defects in combination with intracardiac measurements of pressure and oxygenation.
mesh_terms: D000790:Angiocardiography; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D010493:Pericarditis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013318:Stroke Volume; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed