title: Emergencies in the retroperitoneum: assessment of spread of disease by helical CT.
abstract: Acute pancreatitis, leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm, and renal trauma frequently occur in the setting of patients with abdominal nontraumatic and traumatic injury; it represents the most urgent conditions that may determine the presence of fluid collections or haematoma in the retroperitoneum. Single spiral CT and multidetector-row CT (MDCT) play an important role in diagnosis of retroperitoneal emergencies, providing useful informations on the type, site, extent and management of the fluid collections. An accurate CT assessment requires the awareness of the existence of dissectable retroperitoneal fascial planes. Fluid collections or haematoma tends to escape the retroperitoneal site of origin into planes extend from the diaphragm to the pelvic floor. We assess the multicompartimental anatomy of the retroperitoneum and the pathway of spread of the most frequent retroperitoneal fluid collections or haematoma by helical CT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, "Santissima Annunziata" Hospital, Via Bruno 1, I-74100 Taranto, Italy. michelescalpi@libero.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scialpi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scaglione
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Angelelli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lupattelli
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Resta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Resta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rotondo
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000208:Acute Disease; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D012187:Retroperitoneal Space / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed