Bypass graft imaging and coronary anomalies in MDCT.

Abstract

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is used to restore the blood flow in an ischemic area of myocardium using conduits bypassing a diseased coronary artery. Until now, conventional angiography has been the recognized technique to study patients with bypass grafts. Nowadays, non-invasive methods such as multi-detector CT (MDCT) emerge as reliable imaging methods in the study of CABG. Thus, radiologists play an important role in this field, not only to define if the bypass graft is occluded or stenosed but also to report further information such as CABG technique performed, type of conduit used or pre-operative findings. This paper analyzes the most practical information that the radiologist must know in a study of CABG. Another theme which will be briefly described is the use of MDCT in coronary anomalies studies, with particular emphasis on the course of the abnormal vessel and its relation to great vessels.