Incidental cardiac and pericardial abnormalities on chest CT.

OBJECTIVE Although there has been an increasing interest in diagnosing cardiac and pericardial diseases using electrocardiogram-gated cardiac computed tomography (CT), radiologists tend to neglect or overlook many incidentally detected abnormalities on conventional, nongated chest CT. The objective of this study is to describe the imaging appearance and clinical significance of such cardiac or pericardial diseases. CONCLUSIONS Recognition and detection of various cardiac and pericardial abnormalities on chest CT as the evaluation of noncardiac disease is important for its early diagnosis and proper management.