Intracranial abnormalities requiring emergency treatment: identification by a single midline tomographic slice versus complete CT of the head.
We retrospectively reviewed 89 noncontrast computerized tomographic scans of the head in trauma patients to determine whether a single midline image could reliably identify intracranial lesions significant enough to warrant emergency surgery. We found that a midline cut was able to detect 92% of all lesions for which emergency neurosurgical evacuation was considered necessary, though it detected only 71% of the more subtle abnormalities.
Lewis
L M
LM
Emergency Medicine Division, St. Louis University Hospital, Mo. 63110-0250.
Kraus
G
G
Awwad
E
E
Hoffman
T
T
Forney
J P
JP
D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*