Contrast-enhanced spiral computed tomography of the pulmonary arteries: Anoverview

Spiral computed tomography is a new noninvasive diagnostic test for pulmona ry embolism. The method provides tomographic images of the thorax in the ax ial plane, which depict the thoracic wall, the mediastinum, the lungs, and the pulmonary vessels. Thrombotic emboli in the vessels are seen as intralu minal filling defects in the contrast-enhanced pulmonary arteries. The physical principles of spiral computed tomography and several technical considerations concerning image quality will be briefly discussed. The acc uracy of spiral computed tomography in the detection of pulmonary embolism is discussed by way of an overview of published validation and clinical out come studies encompassing spiral computed tomography and the diagnosis of p ulmonary embolism.