CT of head
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Indications
- intracranial bleed
- intracranial tumor/intracranial mass lesion
- rule out intracranial mass lesion prior to lumbar puncture
- head injury
* MRI is the imaging modality of choice for examination of intracranial structures
Clinical significance
- independent predictors of abnormal head CT in the absence of head injury
- older age
- nausea/vomiting
- altered mental status
- focal neurological deficit
- cancer history
- coagulopathy[1]
Complications
- increasing risk of brain cancer associated with increasing radiation dose to the brain from CT examinations[2]
- for a single head CT, risk of brain cancer is 0.01%[2]
Notes
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a utilization measure for head CT in the emergency department in the absence of head injury, but the measure has met with strong criticism[1]
More general terms
More specific terms
Component of
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wang X and You JJ. Head CT for nontrauma patients in the emergency department: Clinical predictors of abnormal findings. Radiology 2013 Mar; 266:783 PMID: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23204540
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Bassett M Higher Brain Cancer Risk After CT Exam in Childhood Study suggests one radiation-induced brain cancer expected per 10,000 persons receiving a head CT. MedPage Today December 9, 2022 https://www.medpagetoday.com/hematologyoncology/braincancer/102180
Hauptmann M, Brynnes G, Cardis E et al Brain cancer after radiation exposure from CT examinations of children and young adults: results from the EPI-CT cohort study. Lancet Oncology. 2022. Dec 6;S1470-2045(22)00655-6. PMID: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36493793 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(22)00655-6/fulltext