Case history This 67-year-old patient post CABG was admitted due to recurrent chest pain following microcoil embolization of his saphenous venous graft pseudoaneurysm performed at another institution. Question What is the cause of … Read more

Case history 49-year-old patient with atypical chest pain and an equivocal bicycle stress test (non-significant ST segment depression in the anterior leads). Question The relative young age of the patient, atypical nature of the chest pain, and equivocal stress test make coronary artery disease rather unlikely. Thus, coronary CTA was performed to rule … Read more

Case history 43-year-old patient with acute chest pain, not entirely typical for myocardial infarction. ST segment elevation [fig. 1] and enzyme elevation. Echo was normal. Question Myocarditis versus myocardial infarction: Can coronary stenoses/occlusions be ruled out? Diagnosis / Differential diagnosis Chest pain and ST segment elevation are the lead symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Here, … Read more

Case history A 50-year-old male with known coronary artery disease presents with acute chest pain two weeks after stenting of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Question Is the stent occluded? Is there a restenosis or another coronary artery stenosis? Is there another cause of chest pain? Diagnosis / Differential diagnosis The differential diagnoses in … Read more

Case history A 65-year-old female presents with unclear chest pain and dyspnea. The symptoms are nonspecific. Initial troponin test and ECG are normal. Question Is there an acute cardiovascular condition requiring immediate intervention? Is there evidence of the cause of chest pain? Diagnosis / Differential diagnosis The most important and potentially lifethreatening causes of chest … Read more

In recent studies at Munich University, the combined Dual Source CT protocol for chest pain assessment showed a high sensitivity for the cause of chest pain. Due to its robust image quality even in high heart rates DSCT greatly improves diagnostic accuracy. In cases of acute chest pain, the initial focus … Read more

The Dual Source CT protocol for chest pain assessment proved to be a helpful tool offering a fast diagnostic workup and patient triage. The heart rate insensitivity of DSCT further increases the diagnostic accuracy of the method by improving coronary artery assessment in acutely ill patients. The initial symptoms of the … Read more