The Role of Computed Tomography in Diagnosis of Craniocerebral Injury

Abstract

Diagnosis of craniocerebral injury has undergone a profound change in the past few years as a result of the introduction of computed tomography (Ambrose, 1973; Taveras, 1975; Levander et aI., 1975; Huk and Schiefer, 1976; Lanksch et aI., 1976). This is due primarily to the capability of this technique for direct demonstration of intracranial hematomas, brain tissue lesions and traumatic cerebral edema. In addition, the method places no demands on the patient. The fact that newer systems have greatly reduced the time necessary for studies to seconds or a few minutes has made CT equal, if not superior, to angiography in terms of time requirements. The results available with this technique lead us to call for inclusion of CT among the routine diagnostic procedures performed in every hospital where brain-injured patients are treated.