What are some common uses of the procedure?

Physicians use the CT examination to help detect a wide range of abnormalities and disease, including cancer, in any part of a child's body.

Children's (pediatric) CT is typically used to help diagnose and monitor treatment for infectious or inflammatory disorders, abdominal pain, headaches and injury-related changes.

CT is also performed to evaluate:

• blood vessels serving the brain, face or neck
• the spinal cord and bones making up the spinal column

In the case of head injury, the exam can display or rule out serious complications such as bleeding within the brain or other forms of brain damage.

Except for the chest x-ray, CT is the most commonly used imaging procedure for evaluating the chest. CT of the chest is used to evaluate:

• complications from infections such as pneumonia
• a tumor that arises in the lung or has spread there from a distant site
• airway disease such as inflammation of the bronchi (breathing passages)
• birth defects
• injured blood vessels or lung damage

Using multidetector CT, it is possible to obtain very detailed pictures of the heart and large blood vessels of the chest in children, even newborn infants.

CT is well-suited for visualizing diseases or injury of important organs in the abdomen including the liver, kidney and spleen. CT is sometimes used to:

• diagnose appendicitis
• evaluate adolescents who have inflammatory disorders of the bowel, such as colitis
• detect abdominal tumors or birth defects

In the pelvic region, CT scans can help detect:

• cysts or tumors of the ovary
• abnormalities of the bladder
• stones in the urinary tract
• disease of the pelvic bones