CT DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS - IMAGING FINDINGS

Acute appendicitis, at times, is a difficult clinical diagnosis. CT ca n play a valuable role in selected patients with suspected appendiciti s; the CT diagnosis of acute appendicitis has high positive acid negat ive predictive values, 96% and 95%, respectively [1]. In this essay, w e review the normal CT anatomy of the appendix and the right lower qua drant and illustrate the CT signs of appendicitis and important differ ential diagnostic entities. The CT appearance of complications of acut e appendicitis is also presented, as are issues concerning examination technique and patient preparation.