Journal of thoracic imaging
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Before the advent of fast-scanning multidetector-row computed tomography (CT) technology, thoracic CT studies were exclusively used for the morphologic assessment of thoracic organs, as the concurrent examination of the heart was hampered by image degradation from cardiac motion artifacts. The introduction of fast rotation speed and dedicated cardiac reconstruction algorithms has opened new possibilities for chest imaging, starting with the possibility to integrate cardiac morphologic and functional information into a diagnostic CT scan of the chest. ⋯ The recent advent of high temporal resolution and high pitch modes with dual-source CT simplifies the concept of integrated cardiothoracic imaging, introducing non-electrocardiographic-gated coronary artery imaging. The purpose of this article is to review the successive approaches of these redefined borders of thoracic imaging.