Cardiac computed tomography in current cardiology guidelines

- This review systematically analyzed all clinical practice guidelines issued by the ACCF/AHA guidelines and the ESC, in order to identify the extent to which cardiac CT was included.
- Cardiac CT has multiple strong recommendations for detection for stable coronary disease.
- Cardiac CT is also recommended in the assessment of acute chronic aortic diseases with multiple Class I indications.
- Cardiac CT is the test of choice for evaluation of patients being considered for transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Practice guidelines issued by professional societies significantly impact cardiology practice throughout the world. They increasingly incorporate cardiac CT imaging. This review systematically analyzes clinical practice guidelines issued by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF)/American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) as well as the multi-societal appropriateness criteria in their latest versions as of September 1st, 2015, in order to identify the extent to which they include recommendations to use cardiac CT in specific clinical situations.