Usefulness of non-gated chest computed tomography scans in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.

Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) is frequently utilized to evaluate patients who present to the emergency department with chest pain for a pulmonary or aortic disease but is not routinely used to evaluate for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Decreased myocardial enhancement in non-electrocardiogram-gated contrast-enhanced CT has been proposed to indicate AMI. These two cases highlight the importance of carefully evaluating the myocardium for perfusion defects on non-gated chest CT scans in patients suspected of having AMI.