BASIC ABDOMINAL

CT SCAN READING
 OUTLINES

 INTRODUCTION
 INDICATION
 WINDOWING
 PHASES
 BASIC APPROACHES OF CAT
ABDOMINAL CT SCAN
 Simple, Fast, painless noninvasive and accurate
Diagnostic imaging tool

 Major advantage of CT is its ability to image

bone, soft tissue and blood vessel at a time

 Less sensitive to patient mov`t than MRI

 Can be done in pt`s who have an implanted

medical device of any kind
INDICATIONS
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Windowing

 It is also known as grey- level mapping , contrast stretching,

histogram modification or contrast enhancement

 The process in which the CT grey scale component of an

image is manipulated via the CT numbers.

 change the appearance of the picture to highlight particular

structures.

 The brightness of the image is adjusted via the window

level

 The contrast is adjusted via the window width.

Window width

 is the measure of the range of CT numbers that an

image contains

 A wider window width will display a wide range of

CT numbers

 The transition of dark to light structures will occur

over a larger transition area.
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 Wide window
 defined as 400-2000HU best used in areas of acute differing
attenuation values

 Eg. Lungs or cortical tissues, where air and vessels will sit side
by side

 Narrow Window

 defined as 50- 350 HU are excellent when examining areas of

similar attenuation

 Eg. soft tissue

Window level / center

 is the midpoint of the range of the CT numbers

displayed

 When the window level is decreased the CT image

will be brighter and the vice versa.
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Upper and lower grey level
calculation
 when presented with a WW and WL one can
calculate the upper and lower grey levels

 values over x will be white and values below y will

be black.

The upper grey level (x) = WL + WW/2

The lower grey level (y) = WL - WW/2

PHASES

 There are standardized protocols for time intervals between IV

radio-contrast administration and image acquisition

 To visualize the dynamics of contrast enhancements in different

organs and tissues.

The are different phases

- arterial
 Venous
 Delayed/ Late
 Pancreatic etc
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BASIC APPROACHES

 clinical presentation of the patient and the

clinician suspicion

i. General overview
ii. Lung Bases
iii. Solid organs
iv. Vascular system
v. Bowel loops
vi. Potential spaces
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Summary

Knowing the anatomic relationship of

the targeted structure is very important.

Use multiple window levels and scroll

through multiple times.

Evaluate one organ at a time!

References
 Basic principle of CT scan 1st edition

 principles of CT scan Abdomen

 basic CT scan interpretation

 YouTube lectures

 Radiopaedia images
THANK YOU!