The Common Vein Copyright 2008

Inherent ease of use

Tomographic technique

Expansion of gray scale  A 1% difference in the attenuation characteristics of two tissues can vbe identified by CT.  The difference between gray and white matter

Ability to scan at sub millimetre resolution

Narrow beam technology/collimation allows scatter to be eliminated

Ability to reconstruct in 3D

High temporal resolution (acquisition times of a few hundered milliseconds sufficient to freeze the motion od physiology)

Non-invasive.
Highly accurate.
Rapid.
Wide availability.
CT guided interventions.

Short scan times

Lung Biopsy

The CT is from an 81 year old man with remote history of smoking who presents with an asymtomatic lung mass. The lesion was PET positive, without nodal activitiy suggesting that it was either an infection, inflammatory lesion or a primary lung cancer. A biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma of the lung. In the image the patient has been placed in the prone projection. The needle (arrow is shown) within the spiculated lesion. The radiologist needed to avoid the major fissure which is seen as a fine curvilinear structure posteriorly (red arrow), negotiate the the the scapula and two closely spaced ribs. Without CT guidance this procedure would have been almost impossible to biopsy.

lung mass cancer biopsy adenocarcinoma malignant primary CTscan Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD all rights reserved 85221c01.8s