Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Brazil and worldwide, and most of these are caused by coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is an important manifestation of atherosclerosis, which mainly affects the tunica intima of medium and large calibre arteries, thus affecting one, two or three of the epicardial coronary arteries and their branches. The standard for diagnosing CAD is traditional coronary angiography, where cardiac catheterisation is performed, a procedure that can leave sequelae, induce discomfort in the patient and the need for further monitoring and care. With the advent of multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) devices, cardiac assessment has gained momentum and MDCT coronary angiography is gaining ground and is likely to become the best test for assessing CAD.