Special Focus Session

SF 20a - Opportunistic screening for cardiovascular disease and clinical implications: looking for cardiac findings on non-cardiac scans

March 7, 14:00 - 15:30 CET

10 min
Chairperson's introduction
20 min
Coronary calcifications
  1. To learn about the prognostic value of coronary calcifications.
  2. To appreciate how to assess coronary calcifications on non-ECG-gated chest CT practically.
  3. To understand the potential of combining calcium assessment and lung cancer screening.
20 min
Epicardial adipose tissue
  1. To learn to identify and quantify epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) on non-cardiac CT.
  2. To appreciate the clinical significance of EAT as a marker of cardiovascular risk and its potential role in opportunistic screening.
  3. To understand the pathophysiological links between EAT, coronary artery disease and other cardiometabolic conditions.
20 min
Cardiac morphomatrix
  1. To understand the possibilities and limitations of assessing cardiovascular pathology on non-gated chest CT.
  2. To develop a systematic approach to evaluate the heart on routine chest CT examinations.
  3. To understand and describe the underlying pathophysiology of common findings using the correct terminology.
20 min
Panel discussion: What is a good practice for reporting incidental cardiac findings?