Since its introduction in the early 1970s, computed tomography (CT) has become a robust modality to evaluate extracranial, thoracic, and abdominal vascular distributions. It has become a gold standard to non-invasively image the aorta, pulmonary arteries, great vessels, renal and peripheral arteries. However, cardiac anatomy evaluation with this modality was not possible, due to rapid cardiac motion and slow image acquisition times. Since the introduction of the first dedicated cardiac CT scanner, the electron beam CT (EBCT), the diagnosis and workup of cardiac structures has become possible. The lack of movement of the X-ray source allowed for images at a rate of 20 per second – 100 times.
