Single Computed Tomography

There's also other scans such as a ventilation perfusion scan, this looks for blood clots along the pathway to the lungs. Other

Mr. S was driving when he experience a stabbing chest and back pain for the first time. The pain was so severe he immediately went to his local ER. Pulmonary ventilation and perfusion (VQ) scan and Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was done at his local ER. VQ scan was negative for pulmonary embolism (PE). CTA of the chest revealed

160. This is quite a significant jump from 1987, when the NCRP Report No. 93 stated that a mere 11% was attributed to “medical imaging with ionizing radiation.”1 (pp169-170CT) In 2012, Kyle Morford and his colleagues reported that “over the past decade CT has increased from 4% to 11% of all diagnostic imaging studies.”2 (p45) This increase in number of scans come with an increase in patient dose. When a chest CT is performed, a patient gets a dose of 8 mSv. When a radiographic exam of the chest is done in two projections, the dose is around 0.02mSv. Of course, there are patient factors and contrast administration to consider, but the difference between the two modalities is roughly 400% increase.3 (p705) Knowing this, why is shielding not practiced in computed

Tarbox, A., & Swaroop, M. (2013). Pulmonary embolism. International Journal of Critical Illness and Injury Science, 3(1),

Patients with parapneumonic effusions and patients with a history of pleural effusions whose condition has deteriorated should be admitted

The prevalence for PE was estimated to be around 24.5% and DVT was 15% at the HEGP University Hospital, considering all patients with suspected embolism. Besides, these CT imaging procedures also help in detecting clinically significant non-vascular findings such as lesions that are implied as incidental imaging findings. It was observed that F- measure for the detection of pulmonary embolism is 0.98, deep vein thrombosis is 1.00 and clinically relevant incidental findings is 0.80. This represents that both the imaging techniques are equally potential in contributing to the diagnosis of thromboembolic

CT angiogram of the pulmonary arteries (CTPA) was added to the investigation process of detecting PE, and became one of the important diagnostic tests for PE after the introduction of the new multi detector CT scanner in 1998 (Wiener, R. et al. 2013). CTPA examinations have varies technical and practical aspects, and the operating technologist should be aware of these aspects to optimize the examination. Firstly, the acquisition of the scan has to be taken by using all detectors. This helps to minimize the thickness of the images up to 0.5 mm to show a detailed anatomical structure of the pulmonary arteries. It also helps to reduce the scanning duration of the entire chest to approximate 5 seconds. Secondly, the patient has to be properly instructed. The technologist should inform the patient about the breath holding technique and to not move during the scan. These things can reduce the motion artifacts in the images. The patients also have to be told that an intravenous contrast agent will be injected, which will give the arteries a bright appearance in the images, and they will feel worm during the injection as side effect of the contrast agent. Thirdly, the range of the scan should be from the apex to the costophrenic angle of both lungs, the reason is to ensure a full coverage of the

From there we can continue to monitor the patient’s condition. Oddly enough, s/s of hemodynamic instability are surefire ways to determine if the patient sustained any unintentional injuries during the procedure. If we are unlucky enough to get a patient who sustained such an injury unbeknownst to whoever placed the device, we will know because the patient will most likely have diverted from his/her pre/post baseline. SOB, diminished lung sounds, and drop in SaO2 are all s/s of pnuemothorax. If a vessel is punctured, pulses will be thready, heart rate will be rapid, pressure will be lower, and breathing will most likely be heavy and labored. Effort required to breathe will undoubtedly increase (due to increasing pressure) and a pale/dull complexion will also manifest if blood continues to escape from the vascular system into the thoracic cavity. If we take too long to notice these symptoms, and shame on us if we do, the patient will show s/s of hemorrhagic shock including critically low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, and

There are radioactive elements in the earth’s crust, and there are cosmic rays pelting your scalp. Your body can repair the damage almost all the time, but if you add a lot of excess radiation from a CT scanner, you increase your risks. Every CT results in a lifetime risk of cancer. About 2% of the total 1.7 million cancers in the US are thought to have been caused by diagnostic radiation. In this project I will explain how the radiation level in CTs affect the risks of getting cancer, how it effect the world today, and how doctors and phytologist are coming up with solutions to this

The journal article "Radiation Protection in Computed Tomography imaging" wrote by Jason Bond, R.T. (R). Radiologic Technology published the article in July/August 2016. In the article, the author addressed radiation protection methods in Computed Tomography Imaging. The author believes best CT image and achieve ALARA, require proper competency of the radiologic technologists and personnel. The author highlighted the importance of proper training, be familiar with dose-saving features and staying competency in lower radiation dose. The author stated the importance of lower radiation dose in Computed Tomography Imaging by comparing the chest CT exposure dose to a routine chest radiograph. "A routine chest radiography, for example, delivers a dose of approximately 0.02 mSv to the patient, whereas a chest CT delivers a dose of approximately 8 mSv, a 400-fold increase between the 2 modalities (Bond, July/ August 2016)." The author using qualitative data support and summarized the effective methods of radiation protection methods in Computed Tomography Imaging. The author using the recent reference to back up his hypothesis, all reference was chosen is within five years. The author concluded, to achieve

The greatest advantage of fine needle aspiration is safety. Fatal complications like systemic air embolism , haemorrhage or pericardial tamponade have been described. However, pneumothorax remains the most common complication of CT-guided lung FNAC. Review of the existing literature reveals variable rates of pneumothorax, ranging from 5 to 64% . Pneumothorax was noted in 36.2% patients of my study population. In three patients (5.2%) moderate pneumothorax was seen requiring chest tube placement. It was found that the amount of lung traversed by the needle & size of the lesion is significantly associated with development of pneumothorax. The more the amount of the lung tissue traversed by the lesion the more was the complication rate and the

And it has changed the situation for the pulmonologist and pathologist. The main operation indications of EBUS-TBNA are that: The stage of lymph node (LN), diagnosis of lung cancer, diagnosis of unexplained hilar and/or mediastinal lymph node (LN), diagnosis of mediastinal tumor, external pressure lesions of trachea and bronchus, diagnosis of submucosal lesions, tracking small cell tumor. The main operation contraindications of EBUS-TBNA includes: The seriously injured pulmonary function of patient and patients with bad tolerance to EBUS-TBNA who cannot cooperate well with the procedure, patients with heart dysfunction, severe hypertension and arrhythmia (tachyarrythmia and bradyarrythmia), the body and other organs have badly exhausted, patients with aortic aneurysms, asthmatic attack or massive hemoptysis, patients with narcotic allergy, patients with coagulopathy

Due to the various advancements of technologies in the field of radiography, sometimes it can be difficult to choose with imaging modality can be used to provided the best care for the patient and diagnose Clinicians must be aware of the potential benefits and drawbacks of each imaging modality to balance its use with healthcare costs, radiation dose to the patient, as well as patient safety.

To review the principles of CT, first we need to know the physics basic of X-ray imaging. Attenuation, which is defined as the removal of X-ray photons from the beam, occurs in biologic

As far as procedures that I could observe, I watched an XR chest with lateral rotation, C/T of the pelvis w/o contrast, Venogram/CT angiography, shoulder x-ray, chest x-ray, MRI of the head with contrast, X-ray of the left knee and lastly an x-ray of the L 3-5 and pelvis in both open and rotated position. The first procedure had the sole purpose of creating an image of the shoulder joint with the focus on the acromion of the joint and the spacing within the joint. The second procedure was to allow for the visualization of possible injury to the pelvis from a motor vehicle accident in which the patient had a chief complaint of pain in the hip area. The Venogram was for determining the state of the veins and possible deep vein thrombosis (DVT).