Assessment of left ventricular myocardial diseases with cardiac computed tomography

Rapid advances in cardiac computed tomography (CT) have enabled the characterization of left ventricular (LV) myocardial diseases based on LV anatomical morphology, function, density, and enhancement pattern. Global LV function and regional wall motion can be evaluated using multi-phasic cine CT images. CT myocardial perfusion imaging facilitates the identification of hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease. CT delayed-enhancement imaging is used to detect myocardial scar in myocardial infarction and to measure the extracellular volume fraction in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Multi-energy cardiac CT allows the mapping of iodine distribution in the myocardium. This review summarizes the current techniques of cardiac CT for LV myocardial assessment, highlights the key findings in various myocardial diseases, and presents future applications to complement echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance.