UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications

Title

Role of noncontrast head CT in the assessment of vascular abnormalities in the emergency room

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Radiology

Publication Date

2013-12-01

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Emergency Medicine | Radiology

Abstract

Noncontrast CT of the head is a widely used noninvasive investigation for a variety of acute and chronic neurological conditions. Since CT head without contrast is usually the first and often the only investigation in the emergency room for many neurological symptoms, it is imperative to detect subtle vascular changes, which in many patients can be life-saving. The vascular abnormalities may present with increased density and/or size of the vessels, filling defects, and be associated with parenchymal and bony changes. In this article, we present examples of several vascular pathologies which can be identified on the noncontrast CT of the head, and learn imaging and interpretation techniques to help recognize what often are nebulous changes. While some of the findings are diagnostic by themselves and others subtle, any suspicious abnormality should be followed with dedicated vascular imaging such as CT/MR angiogram, venogram, or catheter angiogram for confirmation and better characterization.

DOI of Published Version

10.1007/s10140-013-1136-6

Source

Takhtani D, Dundamadappa S, Almast J. Role of noncontrast head CT in the assessment of vascular abnormalities in the emergency room. Emerg Radiol. 2013 Dec;20(6):529-41. doi: 10.1007/s10140-013-1136-6. Link to article on publisher's site

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Emergency radiology

PubMed ID

23739799

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