Expanding the Role of Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography in Interventional Cardiology

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) use has increased in recent years, in part because of increasingly strong outcome and costeffectiveness data.1 Its use is expected to expand further once cardiologists start to apply the ISCHEMIA trial (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches) results and its main exclusion criteria (significant left main coronary artery disease assessed by CCTA) in their daily practice. Interventional cardiologists should therefore expect to be exposed more frequently to results from this imaging modality. Because data content of CCTA far exceeds that provided by invasive coronary angiography (ICA), interventionalists will also be expected to maximally exploit the CCTA information, similar to what is already done in structural heart interventions. As discussed in the ensuing paragraphs, CCTA can provide a detailed diagnostic and interventional road map before interventionalists embark on interventions within the cardiac catheterization laboratory (Figure).