Computer tomography of the head

Methods of X-ray studies have undergone many changes and improvements, resulting in the technology of computed tomography. This method, also called visualization of the cross section, ensures the performance of the most informative and detailed images of various organs and systems, which greatly facilitates the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of diseases.

A particularly topical and often prescribed study is the computed tomography of the head. Unlike other, earlier methods, it allows to reveal pathological disturbances in tissues and vessels of the brain at the earliest stages.

What does the computer tomography of the head and neck show?

With the help of the survey technology in question, detailed and accurate layered photographs of absolutely all types of formations and tissues, as well as vessels, can be obtained:

• brain;
• neck;
• salivary glands;
• larynx;
• nasopharynx;
• thyroid gland;
• lymph nodes.

In addition, computed tomography (CT) can be used to study the facial skull. In this case, the result is images of the paranasal sinuses , eye orbits, nasopharynx, bones.

When is spiral computed tomography of the head appointed?

Indications for CT of brain tissue are:

• craniocerebral trauma;
• suspicions of internal hemorrhage;
• hemorrhagic, ischemic stroke ;
• increased intracranial pressure;
• neurinoma of the auditory nerve;
• metastases in the skull bones and the brain;
• meningiomas, gliomas and glioblastomas, other types of tumors;
• edema of the brain or its membranes;
• aneurysm rupture;
• granuloma, abscess, empyema and other inflammatory pathologies of the brain.

The study is also conducted to assess the ongoing treatment, the state of the cerebrospinal fluid, the results of surgical interventions.

In addition, you can take pictures of soft tissues and vessels of the neck, allowing to diagnose tumors of larynx, pharynx, thyroid, salivary gland.

In the presence of neoplasms, injuries or inflammation of the bones of the head, an examination of the facial skull is prescribed.

How is computed tomography or CT scan of the head performed?

The essence of the procedure is that the patient is placed on a horizontal table face up. The head is fixed in a special device and placed inside the tomograph.

Within 15-30 minutes a series of layered photographs is produced, while it is important to lie motionless. Sometimes a contrast agent is injected (intravenously).