CT scanning—sometimes called CAT scanning—is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions.

CT scanning combines special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body. These cross-sectional images of the area being studied can then be examined on a computer monitor, printed or transferred to a CD.

CT scans of internal organs, bones, soft tissue and blood vessels provide greater clarity and reveal more details than regular x-ray exams.

Newborns, infants and older children may undergo CT scanning.

Physicians can use the CT examination to help detect a wide range of abnormalities, including those from injury or illness, in almost any part of a child's body.

Children's (pediatric) CT is typically used to help diagnose or monitor treatment for cancer, infectious or inflammatory disorders, causes of abdominal pain, and results of injury such as from car accidents. For example, in the case of head injury, CT can display or exclude serious complications extremely quickly such as bleeding within the brain or other forms of brain damage.

CT is also performed to evaluate blood vessels in the extremities (arms and legs), body (chest and abdomen/pelvis), and head and neck. It is possible to obtain very detailed pictures of the heart and large blood vessels in children, even newborn infants.

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
• trauma to blood vessels or lung

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

Other imaging methods such as ultrasound or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging can provide pictures of certain areas of the body that sometimes are as good as or better than those obtained by CT scanning. Working together, your primary care physician or pediatrician and the radiologist will decide which type of examination is best for your child.

VRI Technologists and Radiologists have all pledged to participate in the American College of Radiology’s Image Gently initiative.  This means our clinical team is committed to carefully adjusting radiation doses for pediatric patients and regularly meeting to find new ways to minimize radiation exposure in pediatric studies.