Vascular Diseases of the Thorax: Evaluation with Multidetector CT

The list of vascular diseases in the thorax has been narrowed to three, which are considered essential information for radiologists interpreting CT scans of the thorax: (1) aortic dissection and its variants, intramural hematoma and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer; (2) acute pulmonary embolism; and (3) coronary artery disease. The spatial resolution of multidetector CT is such that CT has become the imaging modality of choice for aortic dissection and pulmonary embolism. This move away from angiography has transpired over the last decade; perhaps the next decade will see the same occur for evaluation of coronary artery disease.