CHALLENGES OF PEDIATRIC SPIRAL CT

Spiral technology has expanded the usefulness of computed tomography ( CT) in the evaluation of pediatric diseases, Even though spiral CT req uires shorter total scanning times, image degradation by patient motio n is still a problem in very young patients, and oral and intravenous sedatives are administered to minimize this problem, Optimal parenchym al enhancement depends on the amount and injection rate of contrast ma terial and the timing of the onset of scanning, Ail these are more var iable in studies of children than in adults, with the latter being the most complicated, Spiral CT of the pediatric chest is most useful for evaluating anastomotic dehiscence and stenosis in lung transplant rec ipients, pulmonary nodules in children with malignant disease Likely t o disseminate to the lung, and great vessel anomalies; for staging pul monary tumors; and for dynamic imaging to identify various diseases th at cause I pulmonary dysfunction, Important applications of spiral CT of the pediatric abdomen and pelvis include evaluating the liver for a cquired vascular abnormalities and vascular tumors, staging and preope rative assessment of renal tumors, and evaluating inflammatory pelvic lesions.