title: Utility of spiral and cine CT scans in pediatric patients suspected of aspirating radiolucent foreign bodies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review our experience with spiral and cine CT imaging for the diagnosis of foreign body aspiration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-one consecutive pediatric patients suspected of aspirating radiolucent FBs underwent chest radiography and a 3-dimensional spiral CT scan with 12 also undergoing a cine CT scan within 24 hours before rigid bronchoscopy. Bronchoscopic and CT results were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rigid bronchoscopy showed that FBs were present in the main bronchus or bronchus intermedius of 42 patients. Spiral CT scans localized airway FBs in these same 42 patients. In the remaining nine patients without FBs, six were true-negatives and three were false-positives on CT scan interpretation, making the overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of CT scans 100% (95% confidence interval, 91%-100%), 66.7% (29%-92%), 94.1% (64%-99%), 93.3% (81%-98%), and 100% (54%-100%), respectively. The cine CT scan correctly diagnosed nine of 12 patients as true-positives and three as true-negatives with identification of air trapping and secondary lung changes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that CT scans may be used in airway FB management of pediatric patients, especially with diagnostic dilemmas, and further prospective evaluations should be considered to assess its overall efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Songpa-Gu, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hyun Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Goo
authors.forename: Jong-Lyel
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Roh
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001980:Bronchi; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002933:Cineradiography; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods